TFTK 


PRIVATE  AND  PUBLIC  LIFE 


ow 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


Born  February  12th,  1809. 
Died  April   15th,  ISliS, 


BEADLE  AND  COMPANY,  118  WILLIAM  ST. 
American  News  Company,  121  NasFau  5t 


9    t^^.^.m    t^V  W  V    -.^^w     ■M.m   «    «    •      >M.M^'K_ 


'•a^a-A^ 


IlSr    'Is/L:E11^0'FiTJ^lS/L. 


\VlIEX  the  great  and  good  pass  away  iii  the 
fulhiess  of  years,  we  mourn  their  loss  with  a 
grief  tempered  by  resignation.  That  they 
have  lived  to  prove  their  greatness  and  fulfill 
their  destiny  is  a  consolation  full  of  Christian 
sweetness ;  and  to  Him  who  doeth  all  things 
well  be  thanks  and  praise  ! 

When  the  great  and  good  pass  away  in  the 
meridian  of  their  years,  wo  mourn  their  loss 
with  a  grief  painfully  tempered  by  thoughts  of 
work  unaccomplished  and  destiny  mifulfilled. 
That  they  have  not  been  spared  to  complete 
their  mission  can  but  be  a  source  of  poignant 
regret,  even  though  we  accept,  as  Christians, 
the  will  of  Him  who  doeth  nothing  ill. 

But,  when  the  great  and  good  pass  away  in 
the  very  midst  of  their  labor,  stricken  down  by 
an  assassin,  we  forget;^  for  a  while,  our  grief, 
in    the  desire   to  wreak   vengeance   upon   the 


2  IN     MEMOEIAM. 

creature  whose  hand  has  wrought  the  mighty 
and  unnatural  crime. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  great  and  good.  True 
greatness  ever  is  allied  to  goodness ;  but,  in 
this  case,  goodness  was  the  chief  element  of  a 
character  whose  perfections  we  have,  as  yet,  not 
fully  red:lized.  The  kindness  of  heart,  the  be- 
nevolence of  hand,  the  charity  of  disposition, 
were  so  stamped  upon  his  every  act,  that  the 
people,  in  their  reverence  for  these,  overlooked 
the  majestic  qualities  of  mind  which  placed  him 
among  the  foremost  of  statesmen  and  rulers. 

It  only  needed  his  loss  to  attest  his  worth. 
Who  can  fill  his  place  ?  Who  can  so  command 
the  popular  heart  ?  Who  so  potent  to  direct 
public  opinion,  and  to  lead  it  imerringly  to  the 
Right  ?  Who  so  wise  in  simple  things,  and  so 
simple  in  his  wisdom  ?  Who  so  patient,  so 
hopeful,  so  forgiving  ?  Who  so  honest,  loyal, 
and  just  ? 

Kow  that  he  is  no  more,  we  wonder,  in  our 
grief,  that  he  lived  so  long  for  us,  and  wrought- 


IN     MEMORIAM. 


80  well,  yet  excited  so  little  rcnmrk.  Ho  who, 
in  our  own  circles,  goes  about  doing  good,  is 
repaid  in  the  grateful  thanks  bestowed  upon 
his  labors ;  but,  was  Abraham  Lincoln  so  re- 
paid ?  Few  men  realized  the  magnitude  of  his 
task — it  was  too  mighty  for  comprehension  ; 
few  men  were  dispassionate  enough  to  judge 
justly  ;  few  were  wise  enough  to  judge  under- 
standingly.  Hence,  he  labored  as  one  whose 
destiny  it  was  to  work  without  immediate  re- 
ward— awaiting  the  future,  which  would  con- 
demn or  applaud  as  his  achievements  deserved. 

That  future  has  come  all  too  soon.  On  the 
very  threshold  of  his  door,  when  the  morning 
had  come,  and  the  glad  sun  of  peace  was  to 
drive  away  the  horrible  night  of  our  National 
travail,  he  was  stricken  down,  and  all  that  there 
is  of  Abraham  Lincoln  is  of  the  past :  he  is  no 
more,  save  in  memory  and  in  the  hearts  of  Ids 
countrymen. 

Now  let  us  do  him  justice— ^lot  that  which 
time  alone  can  pronounce,  but  the  justice  which 


4  IN    MEMOEIAM. 

comes  of  a  recognition  of  his  goodness,  of  his 

purity,  of  his  single-minded   devotion  to  his 

country,  of  his  sagacity,  of  his  patience,  of  his 
firmness,  of  his  charity,  of  his  wisdom,  of  his , 

nobility.  Let  us  realize  how  much  he  has  suf- 
fered in  our  behalf— the  "  long  days  of  labor 
and  nights  devoid  of  ease  "  he  has  endured  in 
his  ceaseless  vigilance  on  the  watch-tower  where 
his  countrymen  placed  him,  only  so  recently,  a 
second  term.  Let  us  try  to  comprehend  the 
trials,  anxieties,  distrusts,  disappointments,  false 
tongues  and  false  lights  which  have  been  his 
constant  persecutors.  Let  us  see,  in  the  final 
triumph  of  our  arms,  the  triumph  of  his  faith 
in  the  Right ;  in  his  Christian  spirit,  the  true 
spirit  of  the  free  Republic  which  now  is  ours. 

Thus  we  shall  pay  him  the  tribute  which  is 
now  his  reputation's  due  ;  and,  while  we  look 
forward  to  the  coming  years  with  confidence, 
let  us  enshrine  in  our  heart  of  hearts  the  mem- 
ory of  the  great  and  good  Abraham  Lincoln.     , 

O.  J.  V. 


-  x^*^^:;:';^^^??^  ?^ .  ..^■^^  ^ 


TTEE 


PRIVATE  AND   PUBLIC  LIFE 


oor 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN; 


0O3CPRISINO 


▲  FULL  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS  EARLY  YEARS,  AND  A  BUCCINCT 

RECORD  OF  HIS  CAREER  Afi  STATESMAN 

AND  PRESIDENT. 


BY    O.    J.    VICTOR; 
Author  or  Liybs  of  "  Gaiubaldi,"  "WmFucLD  Scott,"  "John  Paot. 

JONKS,"  ETC 


BEADLE  AND  COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS, 


US  WILLIAM  bTHEET. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congreas,  In  the  year  1864,  by 

BEADLE   AND   COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Ofllce  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  State*  for  the 

Southern  District  of  New  York. 

(B.  No.  14.) 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  producing  this  biography  we  have  had  in  mind   its 

moral     Few  men  have  lived  in  modern  times  whose  lifc- 

hiatory  is  so  suggestive  as  that  of  Abraham  Lincoln.     Not 

tliat  he  should  have  stepped  from  a  log-cabin  to  the  national 

capitol,  though  that  fact,  of  itself,  might  challenge  our  liveliest 

intdVest ;  but  that,  out  of  the  very  discouraging  circumstances 

which  surrounded  his  years  to  manliood,  he  should  have  come 

forth  with  a  well-stored  mind,  a  large  and  humanitarian  soul, 

and  perceptions  which  led  him  unerringly  forward  to  his  high 

destiny — that  is  a  result  so  remarkable  as  to  render  the  story 

of  his  life  one  of  the  highest  significance.     Greatness  was  not 

thrust  upon   him — he   achieved  it.     Step  by  step,  line  by 

line— 

"  Throngh  long  days  of  labor, 
And  nights  devoid  of  ease," 

he  forced  his  way  from  obscurity  to  renown.  By  the  dim 
light  of  the  pioneer's  hearth — by  the  candle  in  the  log  loll — 
by  the  lamp  in  the  musty  office,  he  wrought  out  his  task. 
While  others  slept,  he  found  repose  in  the  realms  of  knowl- 
edge. While  he  labored,  with  zeal,  at  the  ax,  at  the  plow,  at 
the  harvest,  at  the  sweeps  of  the  flatboat,  his  eager  soul  was 
laying  away  its  treasures  won  from  books,  from  experience, 
from  men — from  every  thing  which  could  impart  information. 
The  years  of  his  hardest  experience,  therefore,  were  years  of 
development  and  mental  progress ;  and  it  would  seem,  when 
viewed  by  the  light  of  succeeding  events,  that  that  early  expe- 
rience was  a  school  of  Providence  to  fit  him  for  the  mighty 
struggle  which  he  was  to  direct 

In  the  production  of  this  jyork  we  have  had  befoie  us  the 
•everal  biographies  already  well  known  to  readers.     But  as 


X  mTBODucnojr. 

these  were  prepared  for  partisan  purposes  chiefly,  they  hayo 
been  found  lacking  in  the  material  which  we  most  desired — 
the  facts  of  his  boyhood  and  student  days,  and  the  narrative  of 
his  first  steps  in  public  life.  Tliese  we  have  had  to  gather 
more  from  men,  from  letters  and  from  newspapers  than  from 
books ;  and  if  we  have  failed  in  producing  such  a  work  as  we 
designed,  it  has  been  less  from  lack  of  data  than  from  our 
neglect  to  properly  use  what  was  at  our  disposal. 

That  this  little  volume  may  do  good  is  the  highest  wish  of 
both  author  and  publishers. 


/.I     91- 


(injiii 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 
Mr  Lincolu's  Early  History  and  Education,        -        -        -        -        If 

CHAPTER    II. 
His  Experiencea  as  a  Flatboatman,      ..----        24 

CHAPTER    III. 

His  rcm^ral  to  Illinois— Hard  Experioncc*! — Second  Fhitboat  Voyage 
to  New  Orleans  -  liecoines  known  as  "  Honest  Abe" — Enlists  as  a 
Volunteer  in  the  Black-Hawk  War— luslauco  of  his  extraordinary 
Physical  Strength, 28 

CHAPTER    IV. 
Ab  a  Merchant,  Legislator,  and  Lawyer,      .....        82 

CHAPTER    V. 
In  Congress, --89 

CHAPTER    VI. 

The  Canvass  of  1854 — The  great  Senatorial  Contest — Visit  to  Kansai 
and  New  York — The  Cooper  Institute  Speech — Beautiful  Incident,  42 

CHAPTER    VII.  N 

How  he  became  President, 50 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

The  Secession  Movement — Mr.  Lincoln's  Record — Stupendous  Villainy 
of  the  Conspirators  and  Imbecility  of  Buchanan — Tiio  "  Progress" 
of  the  President  Elect  from  Illinois  to  Washington — The  Inaugura- 
tion,    53 

CHAPTER    IX. 
The  War-Cloud  Deepens  and  Burgts,  ------       74 

CHAPTER    X. 
SubBequent  Events  of  1861,         -        ------78 

CHAPTER    XI. 
New  Laws,  and  the  Battle  Summer  of  1862,        -        ...        84 

CHAPTER    XII. 
Event!  of  1868, 90 


THE  LIFE  OF 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER     I. 

ma  BABLY   HIBTORT  ASD   EDCCATIOIT. 

Abraham  Lincoln — the  "  pioneer  boy,"  the  flatboatman,  the 
"rail-splitter,"  the  self-educated  lawyer,  the  congressman  and  the 
President  of  the  United  States — was  born  on  the  12th  day  of 
Febniary,  1809,  in  an  obscure  cabin  of  that  portion  of  Hardin 
county,  Kentucky,  which  has  since  been  formed  into  the  county 
of  Larue.  Like  that  of  Jackson,  Clay,  Webster,  and  others 
whose  illustrious  names  are  bright  upon  the  scroll  of  our 
nation's  history,  his  early  life  was  cast  in  the  unfavoring  cru- 
cible of  poverty  and  toil — a  crucible  from  which  we  come  forth 
dross  or  gold,  as  the  case  may  be.  Thomas  Lincoln,  his 
father,  and  Abraham,  his  grandfather,  were  native  to  the  soil 
of  Rockingham  county,  Virginia,  their  ancestors  having  emi- 
grated thither  from  Berks  county,  Pennsylvania.  Further 
back  than  this,  we  find  it  difficult  to  trace  liis  genealogy.  It 
was  a  Quaker  family,  originally,  but,  as  time  drew  on,  the 
characteristic  habits  of  that  sect  seem  to  have  been  forsaken 
by  the  Lincolns.  Our  hero's  grandsire,  Abraham,  had  four 
brothers — Isaac,  Jacob,  John  and  Thomas.  Isaac  emigrated 
to  a  point  near  the  junction  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and 
Tennessee,  where  his  descendants  are  now  living.  The 
descendants  of  Jacob  and  John  are  still  living  in  Virginia,  as 
far  as  known.  Thomas  came  to  the  wilds  of  Kentucky,  and, 
subsequently,  died  in  that  State,  whence  his  descendants 
migrated  still  farther  west,  to  Missouri. 

In  the  year  1780,  the  remaining  brother,  Abraham,  removed 
to  Kentucky,  with  his  family,  and  took  possession  of  a  small 
tract  of  land  in  the  forest  solitude,  erecting  a  log-cabin  wherein 
to  shelter  his  household  gods.  Armed  with  the  pioneer's 
watchword,   "  Hope   and   hard   work,"   he  here   set  himself 


14  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

re^lutely  to  the  project  of  hewing  for  himself  a  comfortable 
and  permanent -home  out  of  the  game-peopled,  Indian-haunted 
■wilderness.  But  his  occupation  was  accompanied  by  con- 
siderable personal  peril.  His  cabin,  which  was  isolated  from 
its  neighbors  by  several  miles,  was  a  dangerous  dwelling  in  a 
region  infested  by  roving  savages,  whose  blind  instinct  of 
revenge  was  perpetually  searching  for  a  pale-face  victim ;  and 
it  seai.hed  only  four  years  before  this  hardy  pioneer  was 
numbered  with  the  slain.  At  the  end  of  that  period,  while  at 
work  on  some  timber,  about  four  miles  from  his  home,  he  was 
sliot  dead  by  the  bullet  of  a  skulking  savage,  and  his  scalped 
remains  were  found  the  next  morning  by  his  afflicted  family. 

Upon  sustaining  this  heavy  loss,  the  widow  was  left  alone 
in  the  inhospitable  wilderness  with  her  three  sons  and  two 
daughters.  Poverty  compelled  a  family  separation,  and  all 
the  children  but  Thomas  bade  a  farewell  to  their  sorrowing 
mother,  to  seek  other  homes  in  other  parts,  the  second  son 
migrating  to  Indiana,  and  the  rest  to  other  portions  of  Ken- 
tucky. The  elder  of  the  brothers,  Mordecai,  lived  long  in 
Kentucky,  and  afterward  removed  to  Hancock  county,  Illinois, 
but  soon  after  died  there.  Several  of  his  descendants  reside 
in  that  location  at  this  present  date  (1864).  Mary,  the  eldest 
sister,  was  married  to  Ralph  Crume,  and  some  of  her  descend- 
ants were  to  be  found  in  Breckinridge  county,  Kentucky,  in 
1864.  Nancy,  the  second  sister,  was  married  to  William 
Brumfield ;  but  there  is  nothing  further  known  of  her  family, 
though  they  are  supposed  to  have  remained  in  Kentucky. 

Thomas,  the  younger  son,  and  the  father  of  our  Chief 
Magistrate,  owing  to  his  mother's  straitened  circumstances, 
was,  from  early  childhood,  a  wandering  farm-boy,  and  grew 
up  without  education.  The  extent  of  his  knowledge  of  pen- 
manship was  the  mastery  of  his  own  signature.  When  still  a 
boy,  he  passed  a  year,  as  a  hired  hand,  with  his  uncle  Isaac, 
who  had  a  farm  on  the  Watoga  branch  of  the  Holston  river. 

He  was  in  his  twenty-eighth  year  when,  upon  his  final 
return  to  Kentucky,  he  married  Nancy  Hanks,  mother  of  oui 
subject,  in  the  year  1806.  The  Old  Dominion  was  also  her 
native  State,  and  some  relatives  of  hers  were,  in  1864,  residing 
in  Illinois,  in  the  counties  of  Coles,  Macon  and  Adams,  as 
well  as  in  Iowa.     Thomas  Lincoln  and  his  wife  were  plain 


HIS   PAKKNTa  15 

people,  members  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  about  equally 
uneducated.  The  latter  could  read,  tut  not  write  ;  while  lief 
husband,  as  we  have  before  stated;  oc'jJd  manage  his  own 
name  as  a  penman,  but,  it  is  sjiid,  in  a  style  more  perplexing 
than  readable.  Nevertheless,  he  could  fully  appreciate  the 
value  of  a  better  education  than  he  himself  possessed,  and  was 
not  devoid  of  that  truly  democratic  reverence  which  can  bow 
before  superior  mental  attainments  in  others.  He  was,  besides, 
an  industrious,  cheerful,  kind-hearted  man.  His  wife  was  a 
woman  of  excellent  judgment,  sound  sense,  and  proverbial 
piety,  and,  withal,  an  excellent  helpmeet  for  a  backwoodsman 
of  Thomas  Lincoln's  stamp,  and  a  mother  whose  piety  and 
affection  iiliist  have  been  of  inestimable  value  in  the  shaping 
and  directing  of  her  children's  destinies.     Says  the  poet : 

"There's  a  Divinity  that  ehapcs  our  ends, 
Rough  hew  them  as  wo  will." 

But  how  much  that  divinity  is  controlled  and  directed  by 
the  heart  and  hand  of  the  mother,  the  lives  of  all  men  remind 
U9.  In  tlieir  keeping  rests  the  destiny  of  their  children,  to  an 
almost  exact  degree. 

In  Europe — in  our  own  country,  in  many  cases — a  similar 
lowliness  in  progenitors  might  be  disguised,  or  alluded  to  with 
the  haste  of  an  unworthy  shame ;  but  the  compiler  of  this  record 
of  a  truly  noble  life,  dwells  upon  the  rude  but  honest  charac- 
teristics of  the  parents  of  his  now  most  illustrious  subject  with 
pride,  and  with  democratic  fervor  in  his  pride. 

A  brimming  health  to  our  low-bom,  high-risen  President, 
and  a  God-rest  to  the  bones  of  those  whose  simple  names  ar'" 
emblazoned  in  the  brightness  of  his  own ! 

Three  children  were  the  fruit  of  this  union — a  daughter,  a 
son  who  died  in  infancy,  and  Abraham.  The  sister,  who  was 
older  than  Abraham,  attained  the  years  of  womanhood  and 
married,  but  she  long  since  died,  without  issue,  so  that  tlio 
subject  of  this  biography  has  now  (1864)  neither  brother  nor 
sister. 

Together  with  his  sister,  Abraham  was  first  sent  to  school, 
when  he  was  seven  years  of  age,  to  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Hazel,  who  came  to  reside  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  father's 
cabin.  The  capacities  of  this  pedagogue  seem  to  have  been 
nlmost  as  limited  as  those  of  the  hedge-schoolmaster  of  Ireland ; 


16  THE   LEFB   OP   ABRAHAM   LUTCOLN. 

but  he  could  read  and  write,  which  enabled  him  to  assist  tht 
young  ideas  of  the  backwoods  to  take  root  at  leabt.  Very 
probably  the  school-cabin  of  Caleb  Hazel  appeared  like  a 
temple  of  learning  to  the  little  Abraham  when  he  first  entered 
its  portals,  with  hope  and  aspiration  in  his  breast  and  brain, 
and  a  dog-eared  copy  of  Dilworth's  spelling  book  under  his 
arm  But  this  first  by-lane  to  the  broad  highway  to  learning 
was  relinquished  by  the  young  aspirant  almost  as  soon  as 
begun,  owing  to  his  father's  removal,  shortly  afterward,  to_ 
another  State.  He  had  been  residing  on  Knob  creek,  on  the 
road  from  Beardstown,  Kentucky,  to  Nashville,  Tennessee,  a 
few  miles  south-west  of  Atherton  ferry,  on  the  Rolling  fork. 
Thomas  Lincoln  seems  to  have  been  impelled  to  this  removal 
by  an  inherent  disgust  for  the  institution  of  slavery,*  with 
which  he  had  become  early  imbued,  although  himself  a  South- 
ron by  birth  and  residence.  An  early  acquaintance  with  the 
evil  which  wrought  upon  his  own  class  by  the  effects  of  the 
"  peculiar  institution,"  combined  with  an  independence  of 
spirit  which  revolted  at  the  consequent  degradation  which, 
as  a  "  poor  white,"  he  must  undergo,  if  he  remained  in 
the  midst  of  the  helot's  curse,  continually  prompted  him 
northward ;  until,  at  length,  in  the  autumn  of  1816,  finding 
a  purchaser  for  his  farm,  he  migrated  fi:om  the  then  slave- 
teeming  region  of  Kentucky  to  rude^  but  free,  Indiana,  accom- 
panied by  his  wife  and  son — the  latter  then  approaching  the 
threshold  of  his  ninth  year.  The  place  whereon  the  home- 
seeking  pioneer  proposed  to  strive  anew  was  in  Spencer 
county,  Indiana,  The  price  which  he  received  for  his  Ken- 
tucky farm  was  ten  baiTels  of  whisky,  forty  gallons  each, 
valued  at  two  hundred  and  eighty  dollars,  besides  twenty 
dollars  in  money.  Such  transactions  iu  the  disposal  of  real 
estate  were  quite  common  at  that  period. 

As  soon  as  the  sale  was"  effected,  the  father  determined  to 
proceed  alone  to  Indiana  in  quest  of  the  new  home  to  which 
he  was  finally  to  remove  his  famUy.  Having  had  some  expe- 
rience as  a  carpenter,  he  set  to  work,  with  such  shght  assist- 
ance as  could  be  afforded  by  little  Abe,  and  bmlt  a  flatboat, 
wherewith  to  transport  his  household  goods  to  the  northern 

*  Most  probably  this  removal  was,  also,  partially  influenced  by  the 
difficulty  in  land-titles  in  Kentucky. 


TH«    PKBJLfl   OF    M0VJC50.  17 

bank  of  the  Ohio  river.  The  flatboat  was  soon  finished,  and 
launched  on  the  current  of  the  liolUng  fork.  Then  loadmg  it 
with  his  goods  and  tools,  and  his  ten  barrels  of  whisky,  tho 
pioneer  bade  adieu  to  little  Abe,  who  stood  watching  hiin  from 
the  bank,  and  was  soon  on  his  way  down  the  stream.  For 
quite  a  distance  the  voyage  was  accomphshed  with  success, 
but  after  entering  the  broader  current  of  the  Ohio,  an  ^un- 
lucky mishap  served  to  dissipate  the  self-congratulation  of 
the  adventurous  xoyageur.  A  sudden  gust  of  wind,  or  the 
sidelong  punch  of  a  sunken  snag,  caused  the  craft  to  careen, 
when  the  whisky  rolled  from  its  position  to  the  side  depressed, 
and  the  next  instant  there  was  a  capsize.  Every  thing  wen:; 
uu<ler  water,  and  the  captain  with  it,  but  he  clung  to  tho 
structure  of  boards  and  logs,  and  shouted  for  assistance. 

His  cry  fortunately  attracted  the  attention  of  some  men  at 
work  on  the  bank  of  the  stream.  A  skiff  put  off  for  the 
wreck,  and,  in  a  few  moments,  released  the  skipper  from  his 
uncomfortable  dilemma.  The  flatboat  was  also  righted  and 
secured,  and  as  much  of  the  c^go  saved  as  was  possible.  But 
except  a  few  carpenter's  tools,  axes,  and  some  other  articles, 
with  three  barrels  of  whisky,  every  thing  was  lost. 

Uaving  reloaded  his  boat  with  the  recovered  property,  IMr. 
Lincoln  heartily  thanked  the  generous  men  for  their  timely 
assistance,  and  once  more  proceeded  on  his  voyage.  From 
the  information  he  had  received,  he  determined  to  make  hig 
final  landuig  at  a  place  called  Thompson's  ferry,  which  was 
the  nearest  point,  on  the  river,  to  the  location  of  liis  contem- 
plated home.  He  arrived  at  Thompson's  ferry  without  further 
mishap.  Here  he  found  a  settler  named  Posey,  whom  he 
hired  to  guide  and  convey  him  eighteen  miles,  into  Spencer 
county,  giving  his  boat  in  payment  for  the  services  received. 

Tb.e  district  in  which  he  proposed  to  locate  his  new  home 
was  very  sparsely  settled,  and  the  approach  to  it  diflicult  in 
the  extrema  For  the  last  few  mUes,  they  were  compelled  to 
hew  their  way  through  the  unbroken  forest,  to  make  a  road 
by  which  to  proceed.  But  the  determined  hardihood  of 
veteran  pioneers  quails  not  before  obstacles  which  a  swinging 
ax  and  patient  ''grit"  can  surmount,  and  our  bold  homo- 
soeker  and  his  assistant  toiled  steadily  forwara,  sometimes 
enabled  to  drive  their  team  for  a  long  distance  through  open 


18  THE    LIPE    OF    ABHAHAM    UKCOUS. 

glades  and  natural  lanes,  and  then  halting  to  cut  theii  way 
through  dense,  apparently  interminable,  forests.  Several  days 
were  employed  in  accomplishing  the  distance  of  eighteen 
miles.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  heard  to  say,  afterward,  that  the 
hardest  experience  of  his  hard,  rude  life,  was  his  journey  from 
Thompson's  ferry,  to  Spencer  county,  Indiana. 

Having  determined  the  site  of  his  new  home,  the  pioneer 
returned  to  Kentucky  on  foot,  leaving  his  goods  under  the 
care  of  one  of  his  new  neighbors  in  Indiana.  Preparations 
to  remove  his  family  were  soon  completed,  and  the  emigrants 
set  forth  with  three  horses,  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  her  daughter 
mounted  on  one,  little  Abe  on  another,  and  the  head  of  the 
family  on  the  third. 

A  wearisome  journey  of  seven  days,  through  a  region 
almost  wholly  uninhabited,  making  a  couch  of  the  earth  and 
a  roof  of  the  sky  by  night,  at  length  brought  them  to  their 
future  residence.  An  ax  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  boy 
— probably  for  the  fir^  time  ;  a  neighbor  also  assisted,  and,  in 
a  few  days,  a  clearing  for  the  site  of  the  cabin  was  effected. 
Soon,  under  the  experienced  supervision  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  a 
comfortable  abode,  about  eighteen  feet  square,  was  reared  for 
the  future  homestead.  It  was  composed  of  logs,  which  were 
fastened  together  in  the  usual  way,  by  notches,  and  the  crevices 
between  them  "  chinked  "  with  billets  of  wood  and  mud.  A 
bed,  table,  and  four  stools,  were  then  made  of  slabs,  and  the 
rude  habitation  was  ready  to  receive  its  occupants.  The 
cabin  had  only  one  room,  though  the  slabs  laid  across  the 
rough  joists  overhead  formed  a  sort  of  loft  between  them  and 
the  roof  This  loft  was  allotted  to  Abe  for  a  bedroom,  and 
was  reached  from  below  by  means  of  a  ladder.  Here  he  re- 
posed nightly,  for  years,  contentedly  and  soundly,  we  have  no 
doubt.  What  better  fare  had  he  known  than  this?  We 
question  if  a  sweeter  sleep  or  balmier  repose  than  the  future 
President  of  the  United  States  enjoyed,  after  his  long  days  of 
wood-chopping,  ever  was  attained  by  the  most  pampered  pet 
of  princely  luxury. 

Although  diligently  employed  during  the  ensuing  whiter, 
besides  giving  attention  to  the  prosecution  of  his  simple 
studies,  he  also  was  constrained  to  practice  with  the  rifle,  ana 
became  quite  a  proficient  in  the  use  of  that  important  element 


DEATH    OF    ABIIAIIAM'S   MOTHEB.  19 

of  woodcraft  One  day,  toward  the  close  of  his  eighth  year, 
while  his  lather  happened  to  be  absent,  a  flock  of  wild  tur- 
keys approached  the  cabin,  and  Abraham,  standing  inside, 
took  aim  with  a  rifle  through  a  crevice  of  the  log-house,  and 
succeeded  in  killing  one  of  the  fowls.  This  was  his  first  shot 
at  living  game,  and,  according  to  his  owJi  account,  he  has 
never  since  pulled  a  trigger  on  larger ;  but  we  can  imagine, 
and  participate  in,  the  pride  with  which  he  exhibited  ha 
trophy  to  his  delighted  parents.  The  skill  of  the  riflemen  of 
that  day  was  very  great.  The  driving  in  of  a  sixpenny  nail, 
at  a  hundred  yards,  or  the  enufllng  of  a  candle,  by  night,  at 
fifty,  were  no  uncommon  feats  of  marksmanship.  Hence  it 
was  considered  important  that  boys  should  early  learn  to 
shoot  with  accuracy ;  and  a  lad  with  a  natural  tact  for  the 
rifle  was  looked  upon  as  a  "  rising  genius  "  by  the  neighboring 
settlers.  Skill  with  the  fire-arm  was,  further,  to  be  valued 
and  desired,  inasmuch  as,  in  addition  to  procuring  game  for 
the  larder,  furs  were  in  great  demand,  and  many  animals 
were  esteemed  on  this  account.  This  early  culture  in  the  use 
of  the  rifle  assisted  much  in  the  development  of  the  boy's 
physical  vigor;  manly  strength  and  great  power  of  endurance 
have  ever  since  distinguished  him.  Doubtless  much  of  the 
courage,  promptness  and  decision,  for  which  his  whole  life  has 
been  eminent,  came  from  the  school  of  which  the  rifle  was 
master.  The  hardships  and  dangers  of  a  hunter's  life  are 
well  calculated  to  call  forth  and  give  tangibility  to  the  sterner 
virtues. 

In  the  autumn  of  1818,  Abraham  had  the  misfortune  to  lose 
his  excellent  mother.  That  she  was  a  truly  noble  woman, 
the  son's  after  life  attested.  From  her  came  his  deep  and 
abiding  reverence  for  holy  things — his  profound  trust  in 
Proridence,  and  faith  in  the  triumph  of  truth.  From  her  he 
learned  the  gentleness  and  amiability  of  temper  which,  in  the 
lofty  station  of  Chief  Magistrate,  he  displayed  so  strikingly 
during  years  of  most  appalling  responsibility.  From  her  he 
received  the  spirit  of  playfulness  and  the  desire  to  see  others 
happy  which  afterward  formed  so  prominent  a  trait  in  his 
character.  Though  uneducated  in  books,  she  was  wise  in  the 
wisdom  of  experienc©-  and  truth,  and  was  to  her  son  a  good 
mother  indeed.     He  never  ceased   to   mourn   her  loss,  and 


20  THE    LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINOOLK. 

never  mentioned  lier  name,  in  after  years,  but  with  the  deepest 
reverence. 

One  year  after  the  death  of  his  mother,  his  father  espoused 
Mrs.  Sally  Johnston,  a  widow,  with  three  children  of  her  first 
marriage.  At  the  time  of  her  second  marriage  she  was  resid- 
ing at  Elizabethtown,  Kentucky.  She  proved  a  good  mother 
to  Abraham,  and  is  still  residing  in  Coles  county,  Illinois. 
He  soon  conceived  a  filial  attachment  for  her,  which  ever 
afterward  continued. 

Abraham  achieved  the  art  of  reading  before  his  own 
mother's  death ;  and  it  may  well  be  presumed  that  he  did  not 
permit  this  key  to  knowledge  to  become  rusty  in  his  keeping. 
He  was  an  inveterate  book-worm,  as  far  as  materials  could  be 
procured,  from  the  moment  of  his  mastery  of  the  rudiments, 
and  soon  became  the  subject  of  remark  among  the  neighbor- 
ing settlers  for  his  thoughtful  ways  and  mental  industry. 
About  the  time  of  his  father's  second  marriage,  a  person  by 
the  name  of  Crawford,  who  came  into  their  vicinage,  was 
induced  to  open  a  school,  it  being  understood  that  he  was 
fkmiliar  at  least  with  reading,  writing,  and  the  rudimentary 
rules  of  arithmetic.  Our  young  pioneer,  in  the  pursuit  of 
learning,  was  sent  to  this  school  when  about  twelve  or  thir- 
teen years  old.  Previous  to  this  he  had  learned  to  write, 
being  assisted  therein  by  a  young  man  of  the  neighborhood, 
and  chiefly  practicing  out  of  doors  with  a  piece  of  chalk  or  a 
charred  stick.  In  his  new  school  he  greatly  improved  him- 
self in  the  first  two  branches  named,  and  soon  was  master  of 
his  teacher's  store  of  arithmetic.  BQs  school  dress,  during  the 
prosecution  of  these  "  higher  branches,"  consisted  of  buckskin 
clothes    and    a   raccoonskin    cap.      He    attended   two   other 

schools  successively,  kept  by  one  Sweeney,  and  Azel 

W.  Dorsey ;  but  his  circumstances  were  such  as  to  render  his 
amount  of  regular  schooling  exceedingly  limited. 

Mr.  Lincoln  afterward  remarked  that  he  did  not  think  the 
aggregate  of  his  schooling  amounted  to  one  year.  He  never 
attended  a  college  or  academy  as  a  student,  and  never,  indeed, 
even  saw  the  inside  of  a  college  or  academy  till  after  he  had 
won  his  law  license.  What  he  possessed  in  the  way  of  an 
"  education  " — as  generally  understood — he  obtained  by  dint 
of  hard,  unaided  study. 


EARLY    STUDIEa  21 

Probably  the  most  interesting  period  in  the  bioi^phy  of  a 
great  man — be  he  thinker,  statesman  or  soldier — is  this  early 
stage  of  life,  when  the  desire  for  honor  is  rather  a  dream-like 
or  enthusiastic  hope  than  the  hungry  longing  of  succeeding 
years — when  our  little  taste  of  the  "  Pierian  spring "  has 
grown  into  a  thirst  which  would  drink  deeply  and  forever. 
For  at  this  period — at  this  charming  danger  of  the  first 
draught — we  seem  to  behold  the  incentives,  the  germs,  the 
incipient  dawn,  as  it  were,  of  those  after-deeds  which  shed 
luster  upon  the  world  and  upon  the  doer's  name.  We  feel 
curious  to  know  what  were  his  first  loves  in  the  way  of 
books,  human  characters,  and  the  visible  objects  of  the  natu- 
ral universe.  For  in  these  we  can  look  back  upon  our  own 
experiences,  and  find  similitude  or  antithesis,  or  place  them 
alongside  the  similar  characteristics  of  others  of  the  world's 
great  men  with  whose  histories  we  are  familiar. 

Our  subject  took  uncommon  pride  in  his  early  studies,  and 
his  praiseworthy  diligence  soon  won  him  the  esteem  of  his 
masters,  while  his  attainments,  limited  as  they  then  were,  en- 
abled him  to  act  as  a  scribe  for  the  more  untutored  settlers, 
whenever  they  had  letters  to  be  written.  He  was  quicker  to 
learn  than  most  boys  in  his  circumstances  would  have  been, 
and  was  gifted  with,  and  aided  by,  a  very  retentive  memory. 

Of  course,  books  were  his  great  delight,  and  the  procuring 
of  a  sufl3cient  number  of  them  to  employ  his  mind  one  of  his 
principal  anxieties.  His  father  did  much  to  aid  him  in  his 
dilflcult  pursuit,  and  whenever  he  heard  of  any  particular 
volume  which  he  thought  desirable,  or  for  which  Abraham 
asked,  he  always  endeavored  to  obtain  it  for  the  use  of  his 
son. 

"  In  this  way,"  says  Mr.  Raymond,  "  he  became  acquainted 
with  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Esop's  Fables,*  a  Life  of 
Henry  Clay,f  and  Weems'  Life  of  Washington.  The  '  hatchet ' 
story  of  Washington,  whicli  has  done  more  to  make  boys 
truthful  than  a  himdrcd  solemn  exhortations,  made  a  strong 
impression   upon  Abraham,   and   was  one  of  those  unseen, 

•  May  we  not  prpsnme  this  eelection  to  he  an  indication  of  that  love 
for  anecdote  which  has  made  our  Chief  Magintrate  8o  dietinguiehed  aa  a 
rolater  of  pithy  utoriea. 

t  This  fact  may  be  eipniflcant  .when  we  reflect  that  Mr.  Lincoln  always 
t«malned  an  admirer  of  Mr.  Clay,  and  that  be  waa  afterward  a  "Clay 
Whl«.'^ 


22  THE    LIPB    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

gentle  influences  which  helped  to  fbrm  his  character  for  integ- 
rity and  honesty.  Its  effect  may  be  traced  in  the  following 
story,  which  bids  fair  to  become  as  never-failing  an  accom- 
paniment to  a  Life  of  Lincoln  as  the  hatchet  case  to  that  of 
"Washington. 

"  Mr.  Crawford  had  lent  him  a  copy  of  Ramsey's  Life  of 
Washington.  During  a  severe  storm,  Abraham  improved  his 
leisure  by  reading  this  book.  One  night  he  laid  it  down 
carefully,  as  he  thought,  and  the  next  morning  he  found  it 
soaked  through  with  water.  The  wind  had  changed,  the 
rain  had  beaten  in  through  a  crack  in  the  logs,  and  the  book 
was  ruined.  How  could  he  face  the  owner  under  such  cir- 
cumstances ?  He  had  no  money  to  offer  as  a  return,  but  he 
took  the  book,  went  directly  to  Mr.  Crawford,  showed  him 
the  irreparable  injury,  and  frankly  and  honestly  offered  to 
work  for  him  until  he  should  be  satisfied.  !Mr.  Crawford  ac- 
cepted the  offer,  and  gave  Abraham  the  book  for  his  own,  in 
return  for  three  days'  steady  labor  in  '  pulling  fodder.'  His 
manliness  and  straightforwardness  won  the  esteem  of  the 
Crawfords,  and,  indeed,  of  all  the  neighborhood." 

Another  significant  trait  in  his  character  is  said  to  have 
manifested  itself  while  he  still  was  at  school.  Among  his 
schoolfellows  he  was  invariably  a  "peacemaker."  He  ad- 
justed their  misunderstandings,  mediated  in  cases  of  extreme 
diflS^culty,  with  remonstrance  and  soothing  kindness ;  and,  in 
more  than  one  instance,  he  is  said  to  have  thrown  himself 
between  infuriated  urchins,  and  restored  harmony  at  the  risk 
of  personal  injury  to  himself.  Certain  it  is  he  ever  afterward 
retained  this  characteristic  in  an  eminent  degree.  Not  the 
least  memorable  instance  was  his  long,  patient,  and  earnest 
efforts  for  conciliation  at  the  outbreak  of  the  great  Southern 
rebellion.  The  immortal  page  of  history  will  bear  witness 
that  he  went  as  far  to  preserve  the  peace  and  stay  the  mad- 
ness of  the  slave  propagandists  asjie  dared  to  go,  considering 
hi£  oath  to  support  and  maintain  the  Constitution  and  to 
enforce  the  laws. 

But  when  he  had  mastered  the  rule  of  three,  the  school- 
days of  Abraham  Lincoln  were  over,  and  even  ruder  days  of 
physical  toil  than  he  had  as  yet  experienced  were  in  store  for 
him. 


SELF-EDUCATION.  28 

IfoTS.— In  a  communication  to  the  New  York  Indtpendent ,  Kcv.  J.  P. 
Onlliver  detailed  eomo  interestinf:  circumBtanccs  connected  witli  Mr. 
Lincolirs  education  and  early  experiences,  1«Jiich  he  gleaned  from  the 
Chlif  Maj,'istrate  during  a  Icnj^thy  perflonal  interview.  We  must  be  per- 
mitted to  extract  from  the  CDUimunication  the  followini;,  as  throwing 
more  light  upon  the  President's  peculiar  mental  constitution  than  any 
thing  that  has  yet  been  given  by  hie  biograjjhers: 

"*  I  want  very  much  to  know,  Mr.  Lincoln,  how  you  got  this  unusual 
power  of  "putting  things."  It  must  have  been  a  matter  of  education. 
No  man  has  it  by  nature  alono.    What  has  your  education  been  ?' 

'"Well,  as  to  education,  the  newspapers  are  correct— I  never  went  to 
Bchcol  more  than  twelve  months  in  my  life.  But,  as  you  say,  this  must 
be  a  product  of  culture  in  sorrus  form.  I  liave  been  putting  the  question 
you  ask  me  to  myself  while  you  have  been  talking.  I  can  say  this,  that 
among  my  earliest  recollections  I  remember  how,  when  a  mere  child,  I 
used  to  get  irritated  when  anybody  talked  to  me  in  a  way  I  could  not  nn- 
dci'stand.  I  don't  think  I  ever  got  angry  at  anything  else  in  my  life. 
But  that  always  disturbed  my  temper,  and  has  ever  since.  I  can  remem- 
ber going  to  my  little  bedroom,  after  hearing  the  neighbors  talk,  of  an 
evening,  with  my  father,  and  spending  no  small  part  of  the  night  walking 
up  and  do>vn,  and  trying  to  make  out  what  was  the  exact  meaning  of 
some  of  their,  to  me,  dark  sayings.  I  could  not  sleep,  though  I  often 
tried  to,  when  I  got  on  such  a  nunt  after  an  idea,  until  I  had  caught  it ; 
and  when  I  thought  I  had  got  it,  I  was  not  satisfied  until  I  bad  repeated 
It  over  and  over,  until  I  had  put  it  in  language  plain  enough,  as  I  thought, 
for  any  boy  I  knew  to  comprehend.  This  was  a  kind  of  passion  with  me, 
and  it  has  since  stuck  by  me,  for  I  am  never  easy  now,  when  I  am  hand- 
ling a  thought,  till  I  have  bounded  it  north  and  bounded  it  south,  and 
bounded  it  east  and  bounded  it  west.  Perhaps  that  accounts  for  the  char- 
acteristic you  observe  in  my  speeches,  though  I  never  put  the  two  things 
together  before.' 

"'Mr.  Lincoln,  I  thank  you  for  this.  It  is  the  most  splendid  educa- 
tional fact  I  ever  liappened  upon.  This  is  genius,  with  all  its  impulsive. 
Inspiring,  dominating  power  over  the  mind  of  its  possessor,  developed  by 
education  into  talent,  with  its  uniformity,  its  permanence,  and  its  disci- 
plined strength,  always  ready,  always  available,  never  capricious — the 
highest  possess iou  of  the  human  intellect.  But  let  me  ask,  did  you  not 
have  a  law  education  f    How  did  you  prepare  for  your  profession  ?' 

" '  Oh,  yes.  I  "  read  law,"  as  the  phrase  is ;  that  is,  I  became  a  lawyer's 
clerk  in  Springfield,  and  copied  tedious  documents,  and  picked  up  what  I 
could  of  law  in  the  intervals  of  other  work.  But  your  question  reminda 
me  of  a  bit  of  education  I  had,  which  I  am  bound  in  honesty  to  mention. 
In  the  course  of  my  law-reading  I  constantly  came  upon  the  word  demon- 
strate.  I  thought,  at  first,  that  I  understood  its  meaning,  but  soon  became 
Batieficd  that  I  did  not.  I  said  to  myself,  "  what  do  I  do  when  I  demon- 
ttrate  more  than  when  I  recisun  or  prove  f  Uow  does  deiiwiutration  dilTer 
from  any  other  proof?"  I  consulted  Webster's  Dictionary.  That  told 
of  "  certain  proof,"  "  proof  beyond  the  poBSlbility  of  doubt ;"  but  I  could 


24  "     THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LrNOOLN. 

form  no  idea  what  sort  of  proof  that  was.  I  thought  a  great  many  things 
were  proved  beyond  a  possibility  of  doubt,  without  recourse  to  any  such 
extraordinary  process  of  reasoning  as  I  understood  "  demonstration  "  to 
be.  I  consulted  all  the  dictionaries  and  books  of  reference  I  could  find, 
but  with  TiC  better  results.  Ton  might  as  well  have  defined  blue  to  a  blind 
majD.  At  last  I  said,  "Lincoln,  you  can  never  make  a  lawyer  if  you  do 
not  understand  what  demonstrate  means,"  and  I  left  my  situation  in 
Springfield,  went  home  to  my  father's  house,  and  stayed  there  till  I  could 
give  any  propositions  in  the  six  books  of  Euclid  at  sight.  I  then  found 
out  what  "  demonstrate  "  means,  and  went  back  to  my  law  studies.' 

"I  could  not  refrain  from  saying,  in  my  admiration  of  such  a  develop- 
ment of  character  and  genius  combined,  '  Mr.  Lincoln,  your  success  is  no 
longer  a  marvel.  It  is  the  legitimate  result  of  adequate  causes.  You 
deserve  it  all,  and  a  great  deal  more.  K  you  will  permit  me,  I  would  like 
to  use  this  fact  publicly.  It  will  be  most  valuable  in  inciting  our  young 
men  to  that  patient  classical  and  mathematical  culture  which  most  mmds 
absolutely  require.  No  man  can  talk  well  unless  he  Is  able,  first  of  all,  to 
defljQe  to  himself  what  he  is  talking  about.  Euclid,  well  studied,  would 
free  the  world  of  half  its  calamities,  by  banishing  half  the  nonstnse 
which  now  deludes  and  curses  it.  I  have  often  thought  that  Euclid  would 
be  one|Of  the  best  books  to  put  on  the  catalogue  of  the  Tract  Society,  if 
they  could  only  get  people  to  read  it.  It  would  be  a  means  of  grace.' 
.  •"  I  think  80,'  said  he,  laughing ;  '  I  vote  for  Euclid.'  " 


CHAPTER    II. 

mS  EXPEEIRNCES   AS   A   FLATBOATUAK. 

Between  the  time  of  his  leaving  school  and  the  attainment 
of  his  nineteenth  year,  the  subject  of  our  sketch  was  coii* 
stantly  employed  in  the  hardy  avocation  of  a  western  wood- 
man, cutting  down  trees,  splitting  rails,  and  the  like,  and, 
during  the  evenings,  eagerly  devoting  the  few  hours  until 
bedtime  to  such  books  as  he  could  manage  to  procure. 

When  he  was  a  year  older  (twenty),  Abraham  was  hired 
by  a  person  who  lived  near  by,  at  the  rate  of  ten  dollars  per 
month,  to  go  to  New  Orleans  on  a  flatboat  loaded  with  stores, 
which  were  to  be  vended  at  the  Mississippi  river  plantations, 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Crescent  City. 

The  vocation  of  flatboating  and  keelboating  on  the  great 
watercourses  of  the  West  and  Southwest  was  then  almost  the  only 


WATDOATETO,  IB 

mode  of  transportation  by  means  of  navigation,  for  the  em 
of  steamboats  bad  barely  commenced.  The  boatmen  who 
were  employed  in  traversing  these  great  water-routes  were  a 
fearless,  iiardy,  athletic  class  of  men,  exposed  to  many  perils, 
and  almost  shelterless  in  all  phases  of  clime  and  weather. 
•'  With  no  bed  but  the  deck  of  their  boats  on  which  to  He  at 
night,  and  no  covering  but  a  blanket,  they  spent  months  and 
years  of  their  existence.  It  was  on  such  boats  that  the  rich 
cargoes  ascending  the  Mississippi  were  carried.  By  human 
labor  they  were  propelled  against  the  strong  current  nearly 
two  thousand  miles ;  and  it  was  a  labor  that  required  great 
muscular  strength  and  remarkable  powers  of  endurance.  The 
result  was  that  a  class  of  men  were  trained  in  this  business 
of  unusual  courage,  and  proud  only  of  their  ability  to  breast 
storms  and  endure  hardsliips.  In  addition  to  this  class,  whoso 
life-business  it  was  to  propel  these  western  boats,  there  were 
others  who  only  occasionally  made  a  trip  to  New  Orleans,  to 
sell  their  stores." 

Abraham's  new  employer  was  of  the  latter  class.  He  was, 
at  this  time,  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  hardy  vocation  which  ho 
agreed,  for  a  period,  to  embrace.  Nature  had  bestowed  upon 
him  a  frame  of  much  muscular  power,  a  readiness  of  wit,  and 
a  shrewdness  of  judgment,  all  of  which  qualities  could  be 
used  to  advantage  in  the  llatboat  peddling  voyage,  as  it  may 
be  termed.  Besides,  he  was  full  of  the  natural  excitement 
of  leaving  his  home  for  a  length  of  time,  and  of  becoming 
the  beholder  of  remote  and  novel  scenes. 

The  day  of  his  departure  at  length  was  at  hand.  Accom- 
panied by  one  associate  (the  son  of  his  employer),  young  Lin- 
coln embarked  at  the  appointed  time,  and  started  upon  his 
voyage.  They  continued  upon  their  way,  from  day  to  day, 
with  monotonous  regularity,  making  fast  to  the  shore  as  night 
drew  on,  and  swinging  off  into  the  stream  again  at  break  of 
day.  Their  voyage  was  not  wholly  monotonous,  but  enlivened 
with  at  least  one  perilous  adventure,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 
The  scenery  of  the  banks  was  perpetually  changing,  like  a 
vast  panorama,  and  they  frequently  met  and  passod  other 
Gratis,  with  their  numerous  and  jolh"-  crews,  and  communicated 
with  the  people  who  would  appear  upon  the  river-banks  from 
the  neighboring  villages  and  plantations.     The  weather  was 


26  THE   LTFH   OF   ABRAHAM   LUTCOLN. 

mostly  fine,  but  several  tempests  caugtit  them  on  their  way, 
requiring  their  utmost  exertions  to  keep  tlieir  boat  from  cap- 
sizing. Yet  they  managed  to  keep  in  good  spirits,  making  the 
best  of  the  worst  that  came. 

"  Never  for  a  moment  did  Abraham  wish  he  had  not  un- 
dertaken the  voyage.  He  was  not  accustomed  to  wndeHake  a  work, 
and  fail  to  accomplish  it.  He  always  finished  what  he  began, 
and  started  with  that  determination." 

They  were  approaching  the  Crescent  City,  and  had  disposed 
of  a  portion  of  their  cargo,  when  the  moot  noticeable  incident 
of  the  voyage  occurred. 

On  the  night  after  their  arrival,  they  had  made  their  boat 
fast  to  the  lonesome  shore,  and  lain  down  to  rest  at  their 
usual  early  hour.  Somewhere  near  the  middle  of  the  night, 
young  Lincoln  was  startled  from  his  slumber  by  a  noise  which 
aroused  his  apprehensions.  Awaking  his  comrade,  he  called 
out  through  the  darkness,  in  order  to  learn  if  any  one  was 
approaching  the  boat.  A  ferocious  shout  from  several  throats 
in  concert  was  his  answer,  and  the  boat  was  immediately  at- 
tacked by  a  party  of  seven  desperate  negroes,  from  some  of 
the  neighboring  plantations,  who,  doubtless,  suspecting  that 
there  was  money  on  board,  had  thought  it  an  easy  undertaking 
to  overpower  and  murder  the  sleeping  boatmen,  and  possess 
themselves  of  the  property  they  guarded. 

There  was  no  time  for  parley.  The  robjbers,  upon  finding 
their  stealthy  approach  discovered,  made  a  bold  push  for  the 
coveted  prize.  Hardly  had  young  Lincoln's  call  of--  inquiry 
passed  from  his  lips  before  one  of  the  ruflSans  sprung  upon 
the  edge  of  the  boat.  But  no  sooner  did  he  touch  the  deck 
with  his  feet  than  he  was  knocked  sprawling  into  the  water 
by  a  blow  fi'om  our  backwoodsman's  terrible  fist.  Nothing 
dashed  by  their  comrade's  fall,  several  more  of  the  black 
river-pirates  leaped  upon  the  boat  with  brandished  billets. 
But  by  this  time  the  courageous  boatmen  had  armed  them- 
selves with  huge  cudgels,  to  the  serious  detriment  of  the  dark 
assailants.  Heavy  and  rapid  blows  fell  upon  either  side,  until 
the  fighting-quarters  became  so  close  that  the  clubs  were  par- 
tially relinquished  for  a  hand-to-hand  fight. 

After  a  desperate  struggle  of  several  moments'  duration, 
three  more  of  the  ruffians  were  tumbled  into  the  river,  and 


FIGHT    WITH    RrVER-PIRATKB.  97 

tliose  who  still  remained  on  tlie  boat  took  counsel  of  prudence, 
and  beat  a  sore-headed  retreat  shoreward,  as  best  they  might 
But  young  Lincoln,  nothing  disposed  to  rest  satisfied  with  an 
indecisive  victory,  was  after  them  in  an  instant. 

Before  the  last  three  who  had  been  plunged  into  the  river 
had  succeeded  in  crawling  up  the  bank,  Abraham  had  pounded 
two  of  them,  on  the  shore,  almost  to  death  with  a  ponderous 
cudgel.  The  first  negro  who  had  been  knocked  into  the 
water,  upon  reaching  the  bank,  fled  from  the  avenging  boat- 
men in  utter  dismay.  In  fact,  all  of  the  "land-forces"  of 
the  enemy  were  speedily  scattered  in  panic-stricken  rout,  when 
the  victors  paid  their  respects  to  the  marine  reCnforccments, 
dealing  hea\'y  blows  upon  the  luckless  darkies  before  they 
were  well  out  of  the  water. 

Feeling  that  it  was  a  case  of  life  and  death — doubting  not 
that  the  negroes  meant  to  murder  them — the  young  boatmen 
fought  with  desperation ;  while  the  negroes,  driven  at  bay, 
were  scarcely  less  determined.  Abraham's  strength  is  said  to 
have  been  almost  superhuman  on  this  occasion,  but  both  ho 
and  his  comrade  were  badly  bruised  by  the  negroes'  cudgels 
before  the  latter  were  compelled  to  beat  a  final  retreat. 

Though  aching  from  the  blows  which  they  had  received, 
the  next  immediate  care  of  the  victors  was  to  unfasten  their 
craft  and  push  her  far  out  in  the  stream,  as  a  precaution 
against  further  attacks ;  but  none  other  were  made. 

A  narrower  minded  youth,  of  the  same  age,  and  in  the 
position  which  we  here  find  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  might 
have  become  tainted  with  a  prejudice,  either  temporary  or 
lasting,  against  the  benrghted  beings  by  whom  he  had  been 
BO  foully  assaulted,  and  used  his  prejudice,,  thus  pardonably 
contracted,  as  a  ftiture  "  all-they-are-good-for "  argument  in 
justification  of  the  curse  of  slavery,  which  held  the  unfortu- 
nate Africans  beneath  its  ban.  But,  even  at  this  early  age, 
and  under  these  trying  circumstances,  he  viewed  the  outrage 
with  the  calm  and  virtuous  philosophy  which  blamed  not  the 
savage  slaves  so  much  as  the  infernal  operation  of  the  institu- 
ti(  n  that  had  made  them  savages. 

The  adventurers  disposed  of  their  cargo  very  profitably, 
and  returned  safely  to  Indiana.  When  the  di'tails  of  their 
expedition  became  known,  together  with  an  account  of  theii 


28  THE   LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LIKOOLN. 

narrow  escape  from  murder,  they  were  spoken  of  with  con^ 
sideration  and  praise  by  those  whose  whole  lives  had  been 
passed  in  coping  with  danger,  and  young  Lincoln's  skill  as  a 
boatman,  manager  and  salesman,  as  well  as  his  courage  and 
fidelity,  were  accredited  accordingly. 


CHAPTER    III, 

REMOVAL  TO  ILLINOIS — HARD  EXPERIENCES — SECOND  FLATBOAT  VOTAGB 
TO  NEW  ORLEANS — BECOMES  KNOWN  AS  "  HONEST  ABE  " — ENLISTS  A3 
A  VOLUNTEER  IN  THE  BLACK-HAWK  WAE — IN8TANCB  OF  HIS  BXTRAOR- 
DINARY   PHYSICAL   STRENGTH. 

The  nomadic  Thomas  Lincoln  was  again  to  strike  his  tent 
for  a  newer  home ;  for  the  paradisian  accounts  of  the  prairie 
lands  of  Illinois  began  to  spread  m  the  more  eastern  States. 
Accordingly,  he  deputed  Dennis  Hknks,  a  relative  of  his  living 
wife,  to  proceed  to  Illinois  and  report  upon  actual  advantages 
offered,  and  the  iuducements  held  out  for  a  change  of  resi- 
dence. The  tour  of  investigation  was  duly  made,  and  the 
subsequent  report  of  the  agent  fully  confirmed  all  that  had 
been  reported  by  others.  The  change  of  home  was  decided 
upon  at  once.  It  was  a  little  more  than  two  years  after  the 
flatboat  voyage,  and  Abraham  was  just  arrived  of  age,  that 
Thomas  Lincoln,  in  the  month  of  March,  1830,  accompanied 
by  his  family,  and  the  families  of  the  two  daughters  and  sons- 
iu-law  of  his  second  wife,  left  the  homestead  hi  Indiana  for 
the  teeming  prairies  of  Illinois.  Their  mode  of  convey- 
ance was  by  ox-teams,  and,  this  time,  the  transit  occupied 
fifteen  days. 

Reaching  the  county  of  Macon,  they  halted  for  a  period, 
and  during  this  same  month  (IVIarch),  the  Lincoln  family  set- 
tled on  the  north  bank  of  the  Sangamon  river,  about  ten 
miles,  in  a  westerly  direction,  from  Decatur.  They  reared  a 
log-cabin  upon  their  new  location,  into  which  the  family  re- 
moved. The  next  "  improvement "  was  a  rail  fence  suflBcient 
to  surround  ten  acres  of  ground,  for  which  young  Lincoln 
assisted    in    flitting    the   rails — the    identical    rails   which 


RAIL-SPLlTTnTa,  29 

afterward  becarao  tlio  tbcrae  of  joke,  song  and  story.     Of  their 
history  the  following  incident  is  rchited : 

"  During  the  sitting  of  the  liepublican  State  Convention  at 
Decatur,  a  banner,  attached  to  two  of  these  rails,  and  bearing 
an  aj)proi)riate  inscription,  was  brought  into  the  assemblage, 
and  formally  presented  to  that  body,  amid  a  scene  of  unparal- 
.eled  enthusiasm.  After  that,  they  were  in  demand  in  every 
State  of  the  Union  in  which  freed  labor  is  honored,  where 
they  were  borne  in  processions  of  the  people,  and  liailed  by 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  freemen  as  a  symbol  of  triumph, 
Mid  as  a  glorious  vindication  of  freedom  and  of  the  rights 
and  dignity  of  free  labor.  These,  however,  were  far  from 
being  the  first  or  only  rails  made  by  Lincoln.  He  was  a 
practiced  hand  at  the  business.  Mr.  Lincoln  has  now  a  cane 
made  from  one  of  the  rails  split  by  his  own  hands,  in  boy- 
hood." 

Having  built  their  cabin  and  fenced  their  farm,  they  broke 
the  ground,  and  raised  a  crop  of  sod-corn  on  it  the  first  year. 
The  sons-in-law  were,  meantime,  settled  at  other  places  in  the 
country.  A  hard  siege  of  fever  and  ague  afflicted  the  new 
settlers  before  the  close  of  the  first  autumn.  Upon  this  ac- 
count they  were  greatly  discouraged,  and  determined  to  seek 
a  more  congenial  location.  They  remained,  however,  through 
the  succeeding  winter,  which  was  the  season  of  the  "  deep 
snow  "  of  Illinois.  For  three  weeks,  or  more,  the  snow  was 
three  feet  deep  upon  a  level,  and  the  weather  intensely  cold. 
There  was  great  constiquent  suffering  entailed  upon  beasts  as 
well  as  men — all  being  totally  unprepared  for  such  extraor- 
dinary severity  of  climate.  Our  pioneers  were  fortunate  in 
having  a  sufficient  supply  of  com,  but  they  had  laid  up  an 
insufficient  quantity  of  meat,  and  the  deep  snow  seriously  in- 
terfered with  their  dependence  upon  their  rifles.  Abraliam, 
however,  was  willing  to  brave  any  and  every  hardship  to 
relieve  their  household  wants.  Through  his  untiring  exer- 
tions, he  managed  to  furnish  enough  game  to  keep  the  family 
in  food,  although  he  was  not  a  first-rate  hunter,  his  love 
for  books  having  early  overcome  the  fondness  and  enthusiasm 
with  which  he  had  at  first  adopted  the  rifle. 

"  Wo  seldom  went  hunting  together,"  writes  one  of  his  early 
aasociatoe  on  this  subject     "  Abe  was  not  a  noted  hunter  aa 


80  THE    LITB    OF    ABHAHATVT    LINCOI,K. 

the  time  spent  by  other  boys  in  such  amusements  "was  improved 
by  him  in  the  perusal  of  some  good  book." 

And  yet  we  have  the  evidence  that,  during  the  first  years 
of  the  settlement  in  Indiana,  he  did  become  a  proficient  in  the 
use  of  the  rifle.  His  after  devotion  to  labor  by  day  and  books 
by  night  evidently  permitted  his  early  skill  to  become  some- 
what rusty.  During  that  memorable  winter,  the  family  realized 
how  much  they  were  indebted  to  his  devotion  and  remarkable 
powers  of  endurance. 

During  this  same  winter,  near  its  close,  young  Lincoln,  in 
company  with  his  stepmother's  son,  John  D.  Johnston,  and 
John  Hanks,  proposed  another  flatboat  trip  to  the  Crescent 
City.  They  therefore  hired  themselves  to  a  person  named 
Dennis  Oflult  to  take  a  boat  to  that  metropolis  from  Beards- 
town,  Illinois — they  agreeing  to  meet  their  employer  at  Spring- 
field, Illinois,  when  the  snow  should  have  melted  ofi",  and 
complete  their  arrangements  for  the  trip.  But  when  the  snow 
melted  (in  the  early  part  of  March,  1831),  traveling  by  land 
became  impracticable,  as  the  country  was  entirely  flooded ;  so 
they  purchased  a  large  canoe,  and  came  down  the  Sangamon 
river  therein.  By  this  mode  l^Ir.  Lincoln  made  his  first 
entrance  into  the  county  of  Sangamon.  Offult,  however,  had 
failed  to  procure  the  boat ;  so  they  hired  themselves  to  him  at 
twelve  dollars  per  month  each,  and  were  employed  in  getting 
the  timber  out  of  the  forest,  and  in  building  a  boat,  at  old 
Sangamon  town,  seven  miles  north-west  of  Springfield,  on  the 
Sangamon  river.  In  this  craft  they  eventually  proceeded  to 
New  Orleans. 

During  the  prosecution  of  this  boating  enterprise,  Ofiult 
conceived  a  liking  for  young  Lincoln,  and  contracted  with  him 
to  act  as  a  clerk,  in  charge  of  a  store  and  mill  at  New  Salem, 
Illinois. 

After  his  return  from  New  Orleans,  Lincoln,  in  pursuance 
of  his  new  contract,  remained  at  New  Salem.  This  was  in 
July,  1831.  Here  he  soon  made  many  acquaintances  and 
friends,  and  won  the  respect  of  all  with  whom  he  had  business 
dealings,  while,  socially,  he  was  even  more  beloved  by  his 
acquaintances,  and  came  to  be  familiarly  known  as  "  Honest 
Abe." 

In   leas  than  a  y«ar,  however,  Oflfult's  business  fell  off 


HIB   TSICTOTAXJSM.  81 

considerably ;  and,  upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  Black-IIawk 
war  of  1833,  Lincoln  joined  a  volunteer  company,  and,  to  his 
great  surprise,  was  elected  captain  thereof.  He  says  that  he 
has  not  since  had  any  success  in  life  which  gave  him  so  much 
satisfaction. 

An  anecdote  is  current  of  our  subject,  pertaining  to  this 
era  of  his  life,  which  is  interesting : 

Soon  afler  the  election  of  the  company  officers,  a  friend  of 
Captain  Lincoln  had  vaunted  the  newly-elected  commander  as 
the  strongest  man  in  Illinois,  when  a  stranger,  who  was 
listening,  expressed  a  doubt  as  to  the  truth  of  the  assertion, 
at  tlie  same  time  mentioning  another  individual  whom  he 
considered  as  the  stouter  man.  The  friend  of  the  newly- 
elected  captain  at  length  proposed  a  small  wager,  which  was 
accepted,  that  his  champion  could  lift  a  barrel  of  whisky, 
holding  forty  gallons,  and  drink  out  of  the  bmig-hole. 

The  interested  parties  proceeded  to  Captain  Abe,  who  was 
nothing  averse  to  making  the  experiment  for  the  gratification 
of  his  friend.  A  barrel  of  whisky  containing  the  necessary 
amount  of  gallons  was  accordingly  procured,  when  the  test 
was  performed  with  readiness  and  apparent  ease.  As  another 
man  might  have  raised  a  six-gallon  demijohn,  the  barrel  was 
lifted,  and  the  requisite  mouthful  extracted  from  the  bung- 
hole,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  incredulous  stranger. 

"  The  bet  is  mine,"  cried  the  athlete's  admirer,  as  the  former 
replaced  the  barrel  on  the  floor ;  "  but  that  is  the  first  dram 
of  whisky  I  ever  saw  you  swallow,  Abe." 

The  captain  immediately  spirted  the  cheek  full  of  whisky 
upon  the  floor,  with  the  exclamation : 

"  And  I  haven't  swallowed  tfiaty  you  see." 

His  friend  burst  out  laughing  at  this  demonstration  of  the 
incorrigible  teetotaler.  And  this  same  friend,  long  afterward, 
writes : 

"  That  was  the  only  drink  of  intoxicating  liquor  I  ever 
knew  him  to  take,  and  that  he  spirted  out  on  the  floor." 

Whether  true  or  not,  this  little  anecdote,  so  far  as  it  concerns 
the  whisky,  is  in  keeping  with  the  temperate  habits  which 
have  since  distinguished  him. 

Young  Lincoln's  company,  shortly  afterward,  proceeded  to 
Beardstown,  whence  in  a  few  days  it  was  summoned  to  tha 


83  THH    LIFB    OP    ABKAHAM    LINCOLK. 

expected  scene  of  conflict.  But  -when  the  term  of  enlistment 
(thirty  days)  had  expired,  the  men  were  disbanded  at  Otta-w^a, 
with  most  of  their  fellow-volunteers,  and  returned  to  their 
homes  without  having  seen  the  enemy.  However,  a  new  levy 
being  called  for,  Abraham  did  what  few  of  our  embrj'-o  cap- 
tains of  the  present  day  would  be  likely  to  do — re6nlisted  as  a 
private.  Again,  their  term  of  enlistment  having  expired,  they 
were  disbanded,  and  the  war  still  not  over.  Determined  to 
serve  his  country  as  long  as  the  war  should  last,  and  desirous 
of  participating  in  a  battle,  he  enlisted  for  a  third  time ;  but 
the  battle  of  Bad  Ax  was,  nevertheless,  fought  without  him, 
and,  before  the  last  term  of  enlistment  had  expired,  the  con- 
test was  at  an  end.  He  returned  home,  neither  covered  with 
honors,  nor  honored  by  scars. 

"  Having  lost  his  horse,  near  where  the  town  of  Janesville, 
Wisconsin,  now  stands,  he  went  down  Rock  river  to  Dixon  in 
a  canoe.  Thence  he  crossed  the  country  on  foot  to  Peoria, 
where  he  again  took  canoe  to  a  point  on  the  Blinois  river, 
within  forty  miles  of  home.  The  latter  distance  he  accom- 
plished on  foot." 

He  is  said  to  have  been  a  great  favorite  in  the  army — an 
efficient  officer  and  a  brave,  danger-scorning,  fatigue-defying 
Boldier. 


CHAPTER    lY 

▲S  A   HBRCHANT,   LEGISLATOR  AND   LAWTEB. 

After  his  return  from  this  campaign,  in  which,  as  he  is 
said  to  have  subsequently  expressed  it,  "  he  did  not  see  any 
live  fighting  Indians,  but  had  a  good  many  bloody  struggles 
with  the  musketoes,"  he  looked  about  for  something  to  do. 
While  thus  employed  "  prospecting,"  he  was  astonished  tc 
learn  that  it  was  a  proposal,  among  his  friends  and  admirera, 
to  nominate  him  for  the  Legislature.  Though  he  had  only 
been  a  resident  of  the  county  for  nine  months,  an  undoubted, 
intelligent  "  Henry  Clay  man "  was  required  for  the  ticket, 
and  he  was  deemed  a  candidate  "  proper  to  success." 


BKCOTES    A    8UUVEY0R.  3.1 

The  cliolce  was  jvirticulnrly  influenced  by  llie  fact  tliat  iho 
county  had  given  General  Jackson  a  large  majority  the  yi-ur 
before;  whereas,  it  was  believed  that  Lincoln's  popularity 
wouhl  now  insure  success  to  the  opposite  ticket.  The  nomi- 
nation was  accordingly  made.  It  must  have  been  a  ]»roud 
moment,  and  one  hard  to  realize,  for  the  young  man  yet  fresh 
from  the  woods,  when,  across  a  brief  interval  of  retrospect,  ho 
could  tluis  contrast  his  humble  life  of  physic;fl  toil  with  the 
condition  which  Ibund  him  wortiiy  to  sit  in  council  beside  the 
statesmen  of  his  new,  but  wealtli-gathering  and  flist-rising  Slate. 
lie  accepted  the  proflered  dignity  with  the  gratitude  and 
enthusiasm  of  j-outh  and  hoi^j.  The  issue,  however,  was 
averse  to  him,  he  receiving  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
votes  out  of  tliQ  tAVo  hundred  and  eighty-four  cast  in  New 
Salem ;  there  being,  in  all,  ciglit  aspirants  for  the  legislative 
distinction.  This  was  the  only  time  that  ^\y.  Lincoln  ever  was 
beaten  in  a  direct  issue  beibrc  the  people. 

We  next  find  him  as  the  purchaser  of  a  store  and  stock  of 
gfK)ds  on  credit,  and  officiating  as  the  postmaster  of  the  town 
in  which  he  resided.  Ily  was  desirous  of  studying  the  law  at 
this  time,  but  was  deterred  on  account  of  his  limited  educa- 
tion. He  had  a  partner  in  his  store  ;  but  the  business  soon 
proving  a  profitless  incumbrance,  they  sold  out. 

Notliing  daunted  by  his  ill-fortune,  he  next  endeavored  to 
gain  an  insight  inta  the  profession  of  lawyer.  To  this  end  he 
borrowed  some  books  from  a  friend,  and  gradually  made  him- 
self acquainted  with  the  rudiments  of  the  profession  in  which 
he  has  since  been  so  distinguished  an  actor. 

He,  meantime,  pursued  his  studies  diligently.  He  made 
himself  somewhat  proficient  in  grammar;  while  his  newer 
opportunities  i:,\x\q^  him  the  means  of  far  more  extensive  read- 
ing than  he  had  hitherto  enjoyed.  It  was  his  custom  to  write 
cut  an  epitome  of  every  book  he  read — a  process  which  seiTcd 
to  impress  the  contents  more  indelibly  on  his  memory,  as  well 
as  to  give  him  skill  in  composition. 

Before  he  had  proceeded  veiy  profoundly  in  his  study  of 
the  law,  he  became  acquainted  with  John  Calhoun — al\erw;u'd 
President  of  the  Lecompton  (Kansas)  Constitutional  Conveh- 
lion,  who  proposed  to  Lincoln  to  take  up  the  study  and 
Tocation  of  surveying.     Lincoln   assented,   anil   hnmediutely 


34  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LrSTCOLN. 

commenced  the  requisite  routine  of  stud}'-  and  practice.  He  fre- 
quently went  with  Mr.  Calhoun  to  the  field,  and,  in  a  short  time, 
Bet  up  for  a  surveyor  on  his  own  account.  In  this  adventure 
fortune  was  more  in  his  favor  than  it  yet  had  been.  He  set 
.  to  work  with  his  usual  industry  and  vigor,  and  soon  obtained 
plenty  of  work.  He  won  quite  a  reputation  in  this  vocation, 
and  ccmtiuued  in  it  for  more  tlian  a  year. 

At  the  close  of  this  period,  in  August  of  1834 — two  years 
after  our  subject  was  first  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  and 
when  he  had  just  entered  his  twenty-sixth  year — lie  was  again 
nominated  as  a  candidate  for  the  Leccislature -of  Illinois.  The 
prospect  of  success  was  much  brighter  than  before,  for  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  had  become  a  very  popular  man.  The  first  to 
enlist,  and  the  last  to  leave,  he  Avas  tliought  to  have  distin- 
guished himself  as  a  military  man.  He  was  an  excellent 
survej^or,  a  tolerable  lawyer — in  fact,  a  rising  man,  in  the 
Western  sense  of  the  term.  More  than  this,  he  was  heartily 
esteemed  for  his  good  sense,  greatness  of  heart,  and  integrity 
of  soul. 

These  auguries  were  not  fallacious.  The  day  of  election 
arrived ;  a  large  vote  was  polled  ;  and,  as  had  been  generally 
anticipated,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  successful  candidate  by  a 
handsome  majority. 

In  this  manner  was  commenced  the  political  life  of  the 
humble  and  noble  man  who  at  length  became  tlie  recipient  of 
the  highest  gift  of  dignity  and  honor  which  it  is  in  the  power 
of  the  American  people  to  bestow.  To  the  Legislature  of 
Illinois  he  accordinglj'-  went. 

It  was  during  the  first  session  that  he  determined  to  follow 
up  the  study  of  the  law ;  and  he  here  formed  the  acquaintance 
of  his  colleague,  the  Hon.  John  T.  Stuart.  He  was  three 
times  reelected  to  the  Legislature — in  1836,  1838,  and  1840. 
What  were  his  particular  services  it  is  not  necessary  to  relate. 
That  he  labored  successfully  and.  acceptably  for  the  interests 
of  his  constituents  and  for  the  advancemient  of  his  State  is 
true.  The  quick-discerning  and  strong-minded  men  who 
generally  compose  the  "first  settlers"  of  a  new  country,  were 
not  to  be  appeased  with  the  pretense  of  work ;  tliey  judged 
the  tree  bv  its  fruits,  and  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  so  frequently 
re-elected  proves  him  to  have  been  true  to  liis  old  habits  of' 


AS    A    LA^VYEK.  85 

Inrlnstry  and  wcll-doin^.  It  was  during  Ids  legislative  dutiea 
tliat  !Mr.  Lincoln  I'li-sl  became  acquainted  with  Stiplicn  A- 
Douglas.  Little  did  the  two  men  then  realize  what  a  i)Osilion 
they  were,  ere  long,  to  assume  toward  one  another  and  toward 
their  country.  Douglas,  like  Lincoln,  was  the  sole  architect 
of  his  ownXortuncs;  the  good  State  of  Illinois  cradled  them 
both  in  theitt  humble  estate,  and  gave  them,  as  her  own,  to  a 
career  of  jiolitical  glor}'  now  become  historical. 

lie  obtained  a  law  license  in  183G,  removed  to  Springfield  in 
April,  1837,  and  commenced  law-practice  as  partner  of  .Mr.  Stuart. 

One  instance,  in  connection  with  his  practice  of  the  law, 
we  may  relate  :  A  murder  having  been  committed,  "  a  young 
man  named  Armstrong,  a  son  of  the  aged  couple  for  whom, 
many  jears  before,  Abraham  Lincoln  had  worked,  was  charged 
with  the  deed.  Being  arrested  and  examined,  a  true  bill  was 
found  against  him,  and  he  was  lodged  in  jail  to  await  his  trial. 
As  soon  as  3Ir.  Lincoln  received  intelligence  of  the  affair,  he 
addressed  a  kind  letter  to  ]^Ii*s.  Armstrong,  stating  his  anxiety 
that  her  son  should  have  a  fair  trial,  and  olfering,  in  return 
for  her  kindness  to  him  while  in  adverse  circumstances  some 
years  before,  his  services  gratuitously.  Investigation  con- 
vinced the  volunteer  attorney  that  the  young  man  was  the 
victim  of  a  conspiracy,  and  he  determined  to  postpone  the 
case  until  the  excitement  had  subsrded.  The  day  of  trial, 
however,  finally  arrived,  and  the  accuser  testified  positively 
that  he  saw  the  accused  plunge  the  knife  into  the  heart  of  the 
murdered  man.  lie  remembered  all  the  circumstances  per- 
fectly ;  the  murder  was  committed  about  half-past  nine  o'clock 
at  night,  and  the  moon  was  shining  brightly.  ]Mr.  Lincoln 
reviewed  all  the  testimony  carefully,  and  then  proved  con- 
clusively that  the  moon  which  the  accuser  had  sworn  wa'3 
shining  brightly,  did  nf)t  rise  until  an  hour  or  more  after  the 
murder  was  committed  !  Other  discrepancies  were  ex]iosed, 
and,  in  thirty  minutes  after  the  jury  retired,  tliey  returned  'nth 
ft  verdict  of  '  not  guilty.'  "" 

The  prisoner  and  his  mother  had  been  awaiting  the  verdi«:t 
with  agonizing  anxiety.  -No  sooner  had  tlic  most  momentous 
words,  "  not  guilty,"  dropi)ed  from  the  foreman's  lips,  tlian  tho 
mother  swooned  in  the  arms  of  her  sou.  lie  raised  her  and 
pressed  her  to  his  heart  with  words  of  glad  reassurance. 


36  THE   LIFB    OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

"  Where  is  Mr.  Lincoln  ?"  he  exclaimed,  and  then  flew 
across  the  room  and  grasped  his  deliverer  by  the  hand,  ■with 
a  heart  too  full  for  speech. 

It  was  sunset-time,  and  they  were  near  a  window  that 
foced  the  west.  Mr.  Lincoln  returned  the  warm  grasp  of  the 
prisoner,  and  then  cast  his  glance  through  the  window  toward 
the  golden  western  horizon. 

"  It  is  not  yet  sundown,"  said  he,  tenderly,  "  and  you  are 
free." 

One  who  was  a  witness  to  the  impressive  scene  remarks : 

"I  confess  that  my  cheeks  were  not  wholly  unwet  vvith 
tears,  and  I  turned  from  the  affect hig  scene.  As  I  cast  a 
glance  behind,  I  saw  Abraham  Lincoln  obeying  the  divine 
injunction  by  comforting  the  widowed  and  fiitherless." 

]Mr.  Lincoln  continued  prospering,  devoting  the  succeeding 
six  years  to  the  study  as  well  as  the  practice  of  the  law.  Each 
new  case  seemed  to  add  to  his  growing  reputation  for  ability 
as  a  court  and  jury  lawyer  and  eminence  as  counsel.  Several 
of  his  associates  in  practice  at  the  Springfield  bar  were 
remarkable  men.  Says  a  writer,  fomiliar  Vvith  the  persons 
and  incidents  of  that  gathering  of  great  and  peculiar  men  who 
made  the  Illinois  capital  the  arena  of  their  combats : 

"  It  would  be  hard  to  find  in  any  backwoods  town,  at  the 
period  of  which  I  have  been  speaking,  a  coterie  of  equal  ability 
and  equal  possibilities  with  those  who  plead,  and  wrangled, 
and  electioneered  together  in  Springfield.  Logan,  one  of  the 
finest  examples  of  the  purely  legal  mind  that  the  West  has 
ever  produced ;  M'Dougal,  who  afterward  sought  El  Dorado ; 
Bissell,  and  Shields,  and  Baker,  brothers  in  anns  and  in  coun- 
cil, the  flower  of  the  Western  chivalrj^,  and  the  brightest 
examples  of  western  oratory ;  Trumbull,  then,  as  now,  with  a 
mind  preeminently  cool,  crystalline,  sagacious ;  Douglas,  heart 
of  oak  and  brain  of  fire,  of  energy  and  midaunted  courage 
unparalicledj  ambition  insatiate  and  aspiration  unsleeping; 
Lincoln,  then,  as  afterward,  thoughtful,  and  honest,  and  brave, 
conscious  of  great  capabilities,  and  quietly  sure  of  the  future, 
before  all  his  peers  in  a  broad  humanity,  and  in  that  prophetic 
lift  of  spirit  that  saw  the  triumph  of  pnnciples  then  dimly 
discovered  in  the  contest  that  was  to  come." 

Truly  a  singular  gathering  of  great  souls — each  one  of  whom 


ni8  rosiTioN  ON  Tiia  blavejiy  (question.  87 

Tfaa  destined  to  occupy  promincut  positions  in  their  countr}''3 
history. 

His  interest  in  the  exciting  nnd  important  political  events 
of  Ihi;  day — his  steadily-increasing  conception  of  their  import- 
ance not  only  to  his  own  community  but  to  the  country — ere 
long  drew  him  into  the  vortex  of  politics.  During  tlie  presi- 
dential canvass  of  1844,  he  "stumped"  the  State  of  Illinois 
Avith  unwearying  enthusiasm.  His  admiration  of  Henry  Clay, 
which  had  been  early  imbibed,  intluenced,  in  no  small  degree, 
the  remainder  of  his  life. 

The  antagonism  to  Slavery — in  which  he  was  to  become 
such  a  distinguished  mover  and  champion — was  publicly 
manifested  as  early  as  1837.  The  Legislature  of  Illinois  had, 
like  most  of  the  newer  Western  States,  lost  no  occasion  to 
placate  the  ruflled  feelings  of  their  "southern  brethren"  upon 
the  "agitation"  of  this  subject,  by  the  Adoption  of  resolutions 
of  an  eminently  pro-slavery  type,  as  well  as  by  ofTining  other 
evidences  of.  sympathy.  But,  in  the  session  of  1837,  when 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  one  of  tlio  representatives  from  Sangamon 
county,  he  refused  to  vote  for  several  of  these  regularly-digested 
resolutions  for  the  propitiation  of  the  southera  sentiment ;  and, 
taking  advantage  of  a  constitutional  privilege,  combined  witli 
his  colleague  from  Sangamon  in  the  following  protest,  which 
was  read  to  the  house  March  3d,  1837 : 

"  Resolutions  on  the  gnbjcct  of  domestic  slavery  having  passed 
both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly  at  its  present  session,  tho 
undrrsigncd  hereby  protest  against  the  passage  of  the  same. 

"They  believe  that  the  .institution  of  slavery  is  founded  on 
both  injustice  and  bad  policy;  but  tluit  the  promulgation  of 
abolition  doctrines  tends  rather  to  abate  its  evils. 

"They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  no 
power,  under  the  C(mslitution,  to  interfere  with  the  institution 
of  slavery  in  tlie  dillerent  States. 

"  Tliev  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  hm  the 
power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columl)ia;  but  that  the  power  ought  not  to  b^  exercised, 
unless  atllie  rcciucst  of  the  pcojile  of  said  District. 

"The  dilference  between  these  o])inions  and  those  contained 
in  the  suid  resolutions  is  their  reason  lor  entering  this  y.rotcst. 

"D.\x.  Sto.ne, 
'•A.  LixcoLX, 
''lt^pr»»€ntatii>e* front,  Vu  county  of  iSdu^ainon"' 

In    the   election  of  1844 — already  referred   to — the   tariff 


88  THE    LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

question  being  the  main  subject  at  issue — Mr.  Lincobi's  name 
headed  the  Whig  electoral  ticket,  as  opposed  to  John  Cal- 
houn's on  the  Democratic  side.  Calhoun  was  then  regarded 
as  the  ablest  debater  of  his  party  in  Illinois.  They  "  stumped" 
the  State  together,  usually  making  speeches,  on  alternate  days, 
at  each  place,  "where  they  were  listened  to  generally  by  large 
audiences.  In  these  speeches,  Mr,  Lincoln  gave  evidence  of  a 
surprising  mastery  of  the  principles,  working  and  results  of 
ths  protective  system.  The  canvass  proved  how  thoroughly 
he  had  studied  the  question  in  all  its  bearings — how  exhaus- 
tively he  had  read  history  and  political  economy.  He  demon- 
strated not  only  his  own  native  strength  as  a  debater,  but  his 
accomplishments  as  a  well-read  student  and  statesman.  He 
ppoke  with  that  directness  and  precision  which  ever  are  most 
forcible  in  popular  address.  Ilis  manner  was  flimiliar,  as  if 
talking  to  a  large  circle  of  friends — a  feature  of  his  oratory 
which  became  one  of  his  public  characteristics.  Yv^e  say 
orator}'',  yet  it  would  hardly  be  termed  such  in  the  Ciceronean 
sense  of  the  word.  The  very  ftimiliarity  of  his  discourse,  the 
homeliness  of  his  illustrations,  the  quiet  good-humor  of  his 
temper,  and  the  seemingly  inexhaustible  fund  of  anecdote  and 
story  ever  ready  at  his  command — all  sei*ved  to  divest  his 
speeches  of  the  acknowledged  constituents  of  the  oration,  and 
to  invest  them  with  something  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
harangue ;  yet,  his  simple  words  were  weighty  with  an  elo- 
quence which  swayed  not  only  the  hearts  but  the  judgments 
of  his  hearers,  and  few  men  ever  left  an  audience  under 
greater  weight  of  obligation  for  truths  spoken  and  principles 
enunciated.  He  came  out  of  that  first  canvass  the  conceded 
champion*  of  the  Whig  party  and  policy  in  the  State,  and  was 
soon  made  to  assume  still  more  important  functions  iu  public 
life  by  representing  his  district  in  the  United  States  Congress. 

*  During  tb^  campaisn,  at  a  Convention  held  at  Vandalia,  the  old  Cap- 
ital ol'  the  State  of  Illinois,  an  old  man  carried  a  bauner  with  this  device : 

"ABKAHAM  LINCOLN, 

PEEilDfcNT  IN  1S6(J." 

Thi?  is  a  well  attested /ac^,  but  what  was  the  prophet's  name  we  have 
not  boeu  able  to  learn. 


IB    EUB.CTKD    TO    CtJNGltESS.  S9 


C  II  A  P  T  E  11    \' . 

*Mr   CONQRESS. 

^IiL  Lincoln  was  elected  to  Congress  from  the  central  dis- 
trict of  Illinois  in  184C  ;  and  took  his  seat  in  that  body  on  the 
first  Monday  in  December,  1847. 

Mr.  "Wintlirop,  of  Massachusetts,  was  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House.  This  house  was  replete  with  the  best  talent  of  the 
countr}';  and  it  proved  one  of  tlic  most  agitated  and  agitating 
6«'ssions  ever  convened  in  Washington.  Enrolled  with  ]\Ir. 
Lincoln,  as  Whigs,  were  such  names  as  Collamer,  Tallmage, 
Ingersoll,  Botts,  Clingman,  Stephens,  Toombs  and  Thompson  ; 
while,  opposed  to  him  in  politics,  were  others,  not  less  dis- 
tinguished, of  whom  we  may  mention  AVilmot,  Bocock,  Rhett, 
Linn,  Boyd  and  Andrew  Johnsoi^ — the  latter  afterward  Ids 
associate  and  coadjutor  in  the  great  work  of  restoring  the 
Union.  Such  conspicuous  lights  as  Webster,  Calhoun,  Dayton, 
Davis,  Dix,  Dickinson,  Hale,  Bell,  Crittenden  and  Corwiu 
constituted  a  senatorial  galaxy  which  seldom  has  been  outshone. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  only  representative  from  his  State 
who  had  been  elected  under  the  Whig  standard — his  six  col- 
leagues being  all  Democrats. 

Lie  entered  into  the  spirit  of  his  new  duties  with  character- 
istic energy,  voting  pro  or  con  on  every  important  question, 
ever  ready  with  liis  tongue  for  the  argumentative  contest,  and 
frequently  exhibiting  a  power  of  utterance  quite  remarkable 
in  its  effect  upon  his  ever-attentive  listeners. 

Mr.  Giddings  having  presented  a  memorial  (December  21st, 
1847)  from  certain  citizens  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  asking 
for  the  repeal  of  ^ill  laws  upholding  the  slave-trade  in  tlic 
District,  a  motion  was  made  to  lay  it  on  the  table,  when  ]SIr. 
Lincoln  voted  in  the  lu'ffatire. 

Although  he  went  with  the  majorit}'  of  the  Whig  party  in 
jpposii\g  the  declaration  of  war  with  ^lexico,  he  invariably 
supported,  with  his  vote,  any  bill  or  resolution  having  for  its 
object  the  sustenance  of  the  health,  comfort  and  honor  of  our 
ioldiers    engaged    in    the    war.     On    the   22d   of  December, 


40  THE    LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

he  introduced,  with  one  of  his  characteristically  humorotis 
and  logical  speeches  in  their  favor,  a  series  of  resolutions, 
keenly  criticising  the  motives  which  had  superinduced  the 
war.  In  later  years,  it  was  cirarged  against  Mr.  Lincoln  by 
those  whose  political  enmit)^  he  had  incurred  that  he  lacked  a 
gentiine  patriotism,  inasmuch  as.  he  had  xoted  against  the 
Mexican  war.  "  The  charge  was  sharply  and  clearly  made 
by  Judge  Douglas  at  the  first  of  their  joint  discussions,  in  the 
senatorial  contest  of  1858."  Mr.  Lincoln  replied :  "  I  was  an 
old  Whig,  and  whenever  the  Democratic  party  tried  to  get  me 
to  vote  that  the  war  had  been  righteously  begun  by  the  Presi- 
dent, I  would  not  do  it.  *  *  *  But  when  he  [Judge  Douglas], 
by  a  general  charge,  conveys  the  idea  that  I  withheld  supplies 
from  the  soldiers  who  were  fighting  in  the  Mexican  war,  or 
did  any  thing  else  to  hinder  the  soldiers,  he  is,  to  say  the  least, 
grossly  and  altogether  mistaken,  as  a  consultation  of  the 
records  will  prove  to  him."  This  plain  denial  of  a  false 
assertion  is  proof  sufficient  in  itself;  for  it  bears  the  impress 
of  veracity. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  congressional  career,  though  brief,  was  im- 
portant and  brilliant  to  a  singular  degree,  and  is  well  worthy 
of  a  diligent  study  by  the  student  in  statesmanship. 

"  On  the  right  of  petition,"  says  Mr.  Raymond,  "  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, of  course,  held  the  right  side,  voting  repeatedly  against 
laying  on  the  table,  without  consideration,  petitions  in  favor 
of  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

"  On  the  question,  of  abolishing  slavery  in  the  district,  he 
took  rather  a  prominent  part.  A  Mr.  Gott  had  introduced  a 
resolution  directing  the  committee  for  the  District  to  introduce 
a  bill  abolishing  tile  slave-trade  in  the  District.  To  this  ]Mr. 
Lincoln  moved  an  amendment  instructing  them  to  introduce  a 
bill  for  the  abolition,  not  of  the  slave-trade,  but  of  slavery, 
within  the  District.  The  bill  which  he  proposed  prevented 
any  slave  from  ever  being  brought  into  the  District,  except  in 
the  case  of  oflScers  of  the  Goveniment,  who  might  bring  the 
necessary  servants  for  themselves  and  their  families  M'hile  in 
the  District  on  public  business.  It  prevented  any  one,  when 
resident  within  the  district,  or  thereafter  bom  within  it,  from 
being  held  in  slavery  without  the  District.  It  declared  that  all 
children  of  slave-mothers,  bom  in  the  district  after  January 


UrS   RBCORU    IN    CONGIUiSS.  41 

St,  1850,  should  be  free,  but  should  be  reasonably  supported 
and  educated  by  the  owners  of  their  mothers,  and  lluit  any 
owners  of  slaves  in  the  district  might  be  paid  their  value  from 
the  treasury,  and  the  slaves  should  thereupon  be  free  ;  and  it 
l>rovided,  also,  for  the  submission  of  the  act  to  the  people  of 
the  district  for  their  acceptance  or  rejection. 

"  The  question  of  the  Teriitories  oamc  up  in  many  ways. 
The  Wilmot  proviso  liad  made  its  appearance  in  tiic  previous 
session,  in  the  August  before;  but  it  was  repeatedly  before 
this  Congress  also,  when  efforts  were  made  to  apply  it  to  the 
territory  which-  we  procured  from  ^le.xico,  and  to  Oregon. 
On  all  occasions,  when  it  was  before  the  house,  it  was  sup- 
ported by  Mr.  Lincoln  ;  and  he  stated,  during  his  contest  with 
Judge  Douglas,  that  he  had  voted  for  it,  *  in  one  w:iy  and  an- 
other, about  forty  times.'  He  thus  showed  himself,  in  1817, 
the  same  friend  of  freedom  for  the  Territories  which  he  was 
afterward  during  the  heats  of  the  Kansas  struggle. 

"  Another  instance  in  which  the  slavery  question  was  be- 
fore the  house,  was  in  the  famous  Pacheco  case.  The  ground 
taken  by  the  majority  was  that  slaves  were  regarded  as  pro- 
jx'rty  by  the  Constitution,  and,  when  taken  for  puljlic  service, 
should  be  paid  for  as  property.  The  principle  involved  in 
the  bill  was,  therefore,  the  same  "which  the  slaveholders  have 
sought  in  so  many  ways  to  maintain.  As  they  sought,  after- 
ward, to  have  it  established  by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  so,  now,  they  sought  to  liave  it  recognized  by  C'ongns.'*. 
Mr.  Lincoln  opposed  it  in  Congress  as  heartily  as  he  afterward 
opposed  it  when  it  took  the  more  covert,  but  no  less  daugcr- 
oiLS,  shape  of  a  judicial  dictum. 

"  On  other  questions  which  came  before  Congress,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, being  a  AVhig,  took  the  ground  which  was  held  by  the 
great  body  of  his  party.  lie  believed  in  the  right  of  Con- 
gress to*  make  appropriations  for  the  improvement  of  rivers 
and  harbors.  He  was  in  favor  of  giving  the  public  lands,  not 
to  speculators,  biit  to  actual  occupants  and  cultivators,  at  as 
low  ratcB  as  possible ;  he  was  in  favor  of  a  protective  tiuilf, 
and  of  abolishing  the  franking  privilege." 

In  the  Wliig  National  Convention  of  1818,  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
a  delegate,  and  earnestly  advocated  the  nomination  o''  (J'-ncral 
Zachary  Taylor  as  tho  nominee  for  the  Presuiencv       During 


43  THE    LIFE    OF    ABllAUAM    LINCOLN. 

the  ensuing  canvass  he  "  stumped  the  States  of  Indiana  and 
Illinois  in  support  of  his  favorite  candidate.  In  Illinois  the 
Democrats,  under  the  leadership  of  Douglas,  made  herculean 
efforts  to  save  the  State  to  their  nominee,  General  Cass,  and 
succeeded,  as  was  expected  they  would. 

In  1849  he  was  a  candidate  for  United  States  senator,  be- 
fore the  Illinois  Legislature,  but  was  -beaten  by  General  Shields 
— the  Democrats  having  control  of  the  State.  The  bitterness 
of  the  previous  Presidential  canvass  was  intensified  by  the  de- 
sire to  elect  also  a  Legislature  wiiich  should  return  a  Democrat 
to  the  United  States  Senate.  Mr.  Lincoln  visited  Massachu- 
setts once  during  the  campaign,  and  was  present  at  the  Massa- 
chusetts State  Convention,  by  invitation  of  parties  endeavoring 
to  effect  harmony  of  action  between  the  strict  anti-slavery  and 
the  Whig  or  "  Conservative "  factions.  He  did  not  speak, 
however,  except  at  New  Bedford,  where  he  made  one  of  his 
happiest  efforts. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THB  CANVASS  OF  1854 — THE  GRBAT  SENATORIAL  CONTEST — VISIT  TO  KAN- 
SAS AND  NEW  YORK  —  THE  COOPER  INSTITUTE  SPEECH  —  BEAOTIFDL 
INCIDENT. 

For  the  five  years  succeeding  the  canvass  of  1848,  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  but  little  engrossed  in  public  affairs.  He  prac- 
ticed his  profession  with  diligence  and  success,  adding  both 
to  his  fame  as  a  lawyer  and  to "  his  fortunes.  His  interest  in 
politics,  though  lively,  did  not  draw  him  from  the  bar.  But 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  suddenly  aroused  him 
for  fresh  endeavors.  Illinois  was  once  more  a  field  for  the 
battle  of  Freedom,  and  the  bold  leader,  who  before  had  led 
the  van  of  the  host  arrayed  against  slave  encroachment,  was 
not  deaf  to  the  call  for  his  good  right  arm.  The  murmuring 
drum-beat  of  liberty  sounded  its  alarm  throughout  the  land, 
for  the  hour  of  danger  to  free  institutions  had  indeed  come. 
The  old  compact,  won  by  the  herculean  efforts  of  Henry  Clay, 
and  which  stood  like  the  sea-dike  of  Holland,  to  keep  off  the 
ftll-devouring  flood,  was  to  be  rent  asunder,  and  the  beautiful 


THE   thiNVAsa  OK   18.')4.  48 

laml,  reclaiinecl  forever  to  five  hiltor,  wiis  to  be  ^iven  over  to 
darkuess  aiul  death.  All  the  lion  in  Lincoln's  nature  was 
aroused.  ^V'hat  were  peace,  and  fame,  and  fortune,  when  the 
country  was  assailed  by  treachery  and  cunniu';  device,  at  the 
comuiand  of  slave-breeders  ?  The  warrior  put  aside  all  his 
own  interests,  girded  on  his  armor  and  went  forth,  like  Peter 
the  Hermit,  to  arouse  his  people  to  a  sense  of  their  shame  and 
loss  in  permittini,'  the  lioly  sepulchcr  of  freedom  to  be  invaded 
by  the  Soutlicrn  ^loslem  and  Northern  Tartars. 

The  desperate  poliliial  struggle  of  that  year  was  measurably 
influenced  by  his  jjower,  and  the  crowning  victorv,  which 
gave  Illinois  her  lirst  Republican  Legislature,  and  made 
Lyman  Trumbull  her  United  States  Senator,  it  is  conceded 
was  mainlv  due  to  his  extraordinary  elforts. 

The  editor  of  The  Chicago  2Vibune — a  personal  friend 
of  lyir.  Lincoln — thus  sketches  th#  Illinois  campaign  of 
1S54: 

"The  first  and  greatest  debate  of  that  year  came  off  between 
Lincoln  and  Douglas  at  Springlield,  during  the  progress  of  the 
StateJ^^iir,  in  October. 

"  The  Stale  Fair  had  been  in  progress  two  daj'S,  and  the  capi- 
tal was  full  of  all  m;uiner  of  men.  Hundreds  of  politicians  had 
met  at  Springfield,  expecting  a  tournament  of  an  unusual  char- 
acter. Several'  speeches  were  made  before,  and  several  after, 
the  passage  between  Lincoln  and  Douglas,  but  that  was  justly 
held  to  be  Oie  event  of  the  season. 

"Mr.  Lincoln  took  the  stand  at  two  o'clock,  a  large  crowd  in 
attendance,  and  'Mv.  Douglas  seatctl  on  a  small  i)latIorm  in  front 
of  the  desk.  The  first  hrdf-hour  of  Mr.  J^iiicohi's  sjieech  was 
taken  up  with  compliments  to  his  distinguished  friend.  Judge 
Douglas,  and  dry  allusions  to  the  jjoliticid  events  of  the  past 
few  years.  His  distinguished  friend.  Judge  Douglas,  had  taken 
his  seat  as  solemn  as  the  Cock-Lane  ghost,  evidently  with  the 
intention  of  not  moving  a  muscle  till  it  came  to  his  turn  to 
speak.  The  laughter  provoked  by  Lincoln's  exordium,  how- 
ever, soon  began  to  make  him  uneasy;  and  when  Mr.  Linci)ln 
arrived  at  his  (Douglas')  speech,  pronouncing  the  Missouri  com- 
promise 'a  sacred  thing,  which  no  ruthless  hand  would  ever  be 
reckless  enough  to  disturb,'  he  opened  his  lips  far  enough  to  re- 
mark, '  a  first-rate  speech  I'  This  was  the  beginning  of  an 
amusing  colloquy. 

"'Yes,'  continued  ilr.  Lincoln,  'so  affectionate  was  my 
friend's  regard  fur  this  compromise  line,  when  Texas  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union,  and  it  was  fonnd  that  a  strip  e.x- 
tended  north  of  (hiity-six  degrees  thirty  minutes,  he  actu^Uy 


44  THE  J.IFE    OF    ABllArfAM    LINCOLN. 

introduced  a  bill  extending  the  line,  and  prohibiting  Siavery  in 
the  northern  edge  of  the  State.' 

" '  And  you  voted  against  the  bill,'  said  Douglas. 

"'Precisely  so,'  replied  Lincoln  ;  ' I  was  in  favor  of  running 
the  line  a  great  deal  further  south.'' 

"'About  this  time,'  the  speaker  continued,  'my  distinguished 
friend  introduced  me  to  a  particular  friend  of  iiis,  one  David 
Wilmot,  of  Pennsylvania.'    (Laughter.) 

" '  I  thought,'  said  Mr.  Douglas,  '  you  w^ould  find  him  conge- 
nial company.' 

"  '  So  I  did,'  replied  Lincoln.  '  I  had  the  pleasure  of  voting 
for  his  proviso,  in  one  v>^ay  and  another,  about  forty  times.  It 
was  a  Democratw  measure  then,  I  believe.  At  any  rate.  General 
Cass  scolded  Honest  John  Davis,  of  Massachusetts,  soundly, 
for  taking  up  the  last  hours  of  the  session,  so  that  he  (Cass) 
could  not  crowd  it  through.  Apropos  of  General  Cass :  if  I  am 
not  greatly  mistaken,  he  has  a  prior  claim  to  my  distinguished 
friend,  to  the  authorship  of  "  popular  sovereignty."  The  old 
General  has  an  infirmity  for  writing  letters.  Shortly  after  the 
scolding  he  gave  John  Davis,  he  wrote  his  Nicholson  letter — ' 

"  Douglas,  solemnly :  '  God  Almighty  placed  man  on  the 
earth  and  told  him  to  choose  between  good  and  evil.  That  was 
the  origin  of  the  ISTebraska  bill.' 

"Lincoln  :  'Well,  the  priority  of  invention  being  settled,  let 
us  award  all  credit  to  Judge  Douglas,  for  being  the  first  to  dis- 
cover it.' 

"  It  would  be  impossible,  in  these  limits,  to  give  an  idea  of 
the  strength  of  ]\Ir.  Lincoln's  argument.  We  deemed  it  by  far 
the  ablest  etfort  of  the  campaign,  from  whatever  source.  The 
occasion  was  a  great  one,  and  the  speaker  was  every  way  equal 
to.it.  The  effect  produced  on  the  listeners  was  magnetic.  Ko 
one  who  was  present  will  ever  forget  the  power  and  vehemence 
of  the  following  passage : 

" '  My  distinguished  friend  says  it  is  an  insult  to  the  emigrants 
to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  to  suppose  \hej  are  not  able  to  govern 
themselves.  We  must  not  slur  over  an  argument  of  this  kind 
because  it  happens  to  tickle  the  ear.  It  must  be  met  and  an- 
swered. I  admit  that  the  emigrant  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  is 
competent  to  govern  himself  but '  (the  speaker  rising  to  his  full 
bight),  '  I  deny  his  right  to  govern  any  other  person  icithout 
that  person^ s  consent.^ 

"  The  applause  whicli  followed  this  triumphant  refutation  of 
a  cunning  falsehood  was  but  an  earnest  of  the  victory  at  Ihe 
polls,  which  followed  just  one  month  from  that  day." 

Mr.  Douglas  replied  powerfully  and  at  length,  but  it  was 
not  possible  to  pariy  the  force  of  Lincoln's  logic  and  facts. 
The  vast  multitude  who  listened  to  this  debate  dispersed  to 
all  parts  of  the  State — the  majority  to  advocate  the  cause  of 


HE    DBCLTNT-S   TOE    NOMINATTON    FOR    OOYKRNOR.  45 

freedom.  A  similar  pasjsau^e  Avas  tried  at  Peoria.  "  A  friend, 
■who  listened  to  the  Peoria  debate,  informed  ii3  that,  after  ^Ir. 
Lincoln  had  finished,  Dongla.s  '  hadn't  much  to  say,'  which  we 
presume  to  have  been  ^Ir.  "Douglas'  view  of  the  cjise  also,  for 
the  reason  that  he  ran  away  from  his  antai^onist,  and  kept  out 
of  the  way  during  the  remainder  of  the  campaign." 

In  speaking  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  it  must  not  be 
presumed  that  ^Ir.  Lincoln  confined  his  argumentative  eflbrts 
to  tlie  upper  portion  of  Illinois,  where  his  ear  would 
most  frequently  meet  with  applause.  lie  carried  the  war 
into  the  central  portions  of  the  State ;  he  illuminated  the  pre- 
cincts of  benighted  E.g}'pt.  Here  the  population  was  largely 
composed  of  emigrants  from  slave  States — Kentucky,  Tennes- 
see, Virginia  and  North  Carolina — and  he  urged  upon  them 
the  slaver}''  issue  with  all  the  vigor  of  his  understanding  and 
all  the  arts  of  his  true  eloquence.  The  political  feeling  of  the 
State  was  completely  revolutionized.  For  the  first  time  in 
lier  history  a  freedom-loving  majority  rule"d  her  legislative 
lialls,  and  opposed  the  retrogressive  policy  of  the  Doinocratic 
Administnititm  at  "Washington.  The  election  for  United 
States  Senator  came  on,  when  the  anti-Xebraska  Democrats 
united  on  Mr.  Trumbull,  the  oj^posilion  invariably  casting 
their  votes  for  Lincoln.  ]Mr.  Lincoln  feared  that  the  anti- 
Nebraska  Democrats,  though  averse  to  ]Mr.  Douglas,  woukl 
relinquish  Judge  Trumbull  for  some  third  candidate  of  less 
decided  anti-slavery  views  ;  and,  to  prevent  this,  he  readily 
sacrificed  himself,  and,  by  personal  persuasion,  induced  his 
own  supported  to  vote  for  Trumbull,  who  was  thus  elected. 

"'Some  of  his  (Mr.  I/mcoln's)  friends,  on  the  floor  of  the 
Legislature,  wept  like  children  when  constrained,  by  ]\[r.  Lin- 
coln's personal  appeals,  to  desert  him  and  unite  on  Trumbull. 
It  is  proper  to  say,  in  this  ccmnection,  that,  between  Trumbull 
and  Lincoln,  the  most  cordial  relations  have  always  existed, 
and  that  the  feeling  of  cnv}'  or  rivalry  is  not  to  be  found  in 
the  breast  of  either." 

In  18.'54  the  anti-Nebraska  (afterward  Republican)  party 
ofi'ered  to  "Mr.  Lincoln  the  nomination  for  Governor.  Ho 
declined,  saying  •  "  No,  I  am  not  the  man  ;  BLssell  will  make 
a  better  Governor  than  I,  and  you  can  elect  him  on  acctnmt 
of  his  Democratic  antecedents." 


46  THE    LIFE    OF    AURA  HAM    LINCOLN. 

Thus,  again,  did  he  permit  liis  love  for  his  party,  and  the  prin- 
ciples involved,  to  overcome  anj^  desire  which  he  may  have 
had  to  be  their  standard-bearer  and  leader. 

In  the  first  National  Convention  of  the  Republican  party, 
which  met  at  Philadelphia,  June  17th,  1856,  the  name  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  conspicuous  before  the  convention  for 
the  Vice-Presidency,  standing  second  to  Mr.  Dayton  on  the 
informal  ballot,  and  receiving  one  hundred  votes.  The  choice 
of  that  convention  having  settled  upon  John  C.  Fremont 
and  William  L.  Dayton  for  its  candidates,  Mr.  Lincoln  took 
an  active  part  in  the  ensuing  canvass.  The  Republican  elec- 
toral ticket  of  Illinois  was  headed  with  his  name  ;  though,  in 
the  event,  the  Democrats  carried  the  State  by  a  plurality 
vote. 

The  great  Senatorial  contest  of  Illinois,  between  Mr,  Doug- 
las, on  the  one  hand,  and  jMr.  Lincoln  on  the  other,  which 
gave  rise  to  those  debates  which  have  become  a  distinguished 
part  of  our  national  x>olitical  history,  took  place  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1858. 

Mr.  Douuglas,  by  his  refusal  to  support  the  Lecompton 
fraud,  had  earned  for  himself  the  enmity  of  the  Administra- 
tion ;  but  his  strength,  inside  and  outside  of  Illinois,  was  still 
enormous.  In  consequence  of  his  defection  from  the  then 
openly  avowed  pro-slavery  policy  of  his  party,  and  the  com- 
mendation which  he  had  earned  from  many  Republicans,  he 
was  probably  stronger  than  ever  before.  Of  course,  under 
these  circumstances,  it  required  a  man  of  no  ordinary  ability, 
and  of  no  ordinary  hold  upon  the  public  regard,  to  contest  the 
State  of  Illinois  with  the  "  Little  Giant."  As  a  Republican 
candidate  for  United  States  Senator,  and  one  of  less  equivocal 
record  with  regard  to  the  absorbing  issue  of  slavery  or  free- 
dom in  the  the  Territories,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  thought  to  be  the 
opponent  upon  whom  the  freedom-lovers  of  Illinois  could 
best  depend,  as  their  champion.  He  was,  accordingly,  nomi- 
nated by  the  Republican  State  Convention,  whicli  met  at 
Springfield,  June  2d,  1858. 

In  the  projected  tournament  of  debate  between  the  rival 
candidates,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  first  to  fling  down  the  gaunt- 
let, in  a  brief  note,  under  date  of  July  24th,  requesting  an 
arrangement  to  "  divide  time,  and  address  the  same  audiences 


•mE    GUEAT    SENATOIIIAL    CONTEBT.  47 

diirini^  the  present  canvass."  The  challeni^e  was  not  accepteii 
with  niucli  readiness,  but  the  terms  -were  at  hist  agreed  upon, 
antl  the  places  and  days  of  meeting  specified. 

It  will  be  impossible  to  give  amy  thing  more  t,han  a  brief 
synopsis  of  these  celebrated  debates.  It  was,  generally,  the 
venlict  of  the  press  and  of  the  country',  that,  in  every  encoun- 
ter, ]\Ir.  Lincoln  held  his  ground  firmly  against  his  talented 
opjionent ;  and  it  is  vcr}'  probable  that  tlie  majority  accorded 
to  the  former  the  meed  of  victor}'. 

A  discerning  writer  wrote  of  this  celebrated  word-duel  and 
the  contestants : 

"  In  perhaps  the  severest  test  that  could  liave  been  applied 
to  any  man's  temper — his  political  contest  with  Seitalor  Doug- 
las in  I808 — Mr.  Lincoln  not  only  proved  himself  an  able 
speaker  and  a  good  tactician,  but  demonstrated  that  it  is  pos- 
sible to  carry  on  the  tiercest  political  warfare  without  once 
descending  to  rude  personality  and  coarse  denunciation.  We 
have  it  on  the  authority  of  a  gentleman  who  followed  Abra- 
ham Lineoln  throughout  the  whole  of  the  campaign,  that,  in 
spite  of  all  the  temptations  to  an  opposite  course  to  which  lie 
was  continuously  exposed,  no  personalities  against  his  oppo- 
nent, no  vituperation  or  coarseness,  ever  defiled  his  lips.  His 
kind  and  genial  nature  lifted  him  above  a  resort  to  any  such 
weapons  of  political  warfare,  and  it  was  the  commonly  ex- 
pressed regret  of  fiercer  natures  that  he  treated  his  opponent 
too  courteously  and  urbanely.  Vulgar  personalities  and 
vituperation  are  the  last  thing  that  can  be  truthfully  charged 
against  Abraham  Lincoln.  His  heart  is  too  genial,  his  good 
sense  too  strong,  and  his  innate  self-respect  too  predominant 
to  permit  him  to  indulge  in  them.  His  nobility  of  nature — 
and  we  may  use  tlie  term  advisedh' — has  been  as  manifest' 
throughout  his  Avhole  career  as  his  temperate  habits,  his  self- 
n-linnce,  and  his  mental  and  intellectual  power." 

This  picture  presented  the  man  as  lie  appeared  and  acted. 
Another  writer,  well  acquainted  with  his  subject,  wrote  of  the 
Great  Campaigner,  as  he  was  then  called,  as  follows: 

"  In  manner  he  is  remarkably  cordial,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
Bimi)le.  His  politeness  is  always  5-iuccre,  but  never  elaborate 
and  oppressive.  A  warm  shake  of  the  hand,  and  a  warmer 
Bmile  of  recognition,  arc  his  methods  of  greeting  his  frieudik 


48  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LLNCOLN. 

At  rest,  liis  features,  though  those  of  a-  man  of  mark,  are  not 
such  as  belong  to  a  handsome  man ;  but  when  his  fine,  dark- 
gray  eyes  are  lighted  up  by  any  emotion,  and  his  features 
begin  their  play,  he  would  be  chosen  from  among  a  crowd  as 
one  who  had  in  him  not  only  the  kiudly  sentiments  which 
women  love,  but  the  heavier  metal  of  which  full-grown  men 
and  Presidents  are  made.  His  hair  is  black,  and,  though  tliin, 
is  wiiy.  His  head  sits  well  on  his  shoulders,  but  bej'ond  that 
it  defies  description.  It  nearer  resembles  that  of  Clay  than 
that  of  Webster,  but  it  is  unlike  either.  It  is  very  large,  and, 
phreuologically,  well  proportioned,  betokening  power  in  all  its 
developments.  A  slightly  Roman  nose,  a  wide-cut  mouth,  and 
a  dark  complexion,  with  the  appearance  of  having  been 
W'Cather-beaten,  complete  the  description. 

"  In  his  personal  habits,  Mr.  Lincoln  is  as  simple  as  a  child. 
He  loves  a  good  dinner,  and  eats  with  the  appetite  which  goes 
with  a  great  brain  ;  but  his  food  is  plain  and  nutritious.  He 
never  drinks  intoxicating  liquors  of  any  sort,  not  even  a  glass 
of  wine.  He'  is  not  addicted  to  tobacco  in  any  of  its  shapes. 
He  never  was  accused  of  a  licentious  act  in  all  his  life.  He 
never  uses  profane  language." 

On  the  evening  before  the  debate  which  took  place  at  Free- 
port,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  company  with  a  few  friends,  when 
it  was  remarked  by  some  of  them  that,  if  he  cornered  Doug- 
las on  the  question  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  his  opponent 
(Douglas),  would  surely  "  take  the  bull  by  the  horns,  and  £^- 
sert  his  squatter  sovereignty  in  defiance  of  that  decision,  and 
that  will  make  him  Senator."  "  That  may  be,"  replied  Lin- 
coln ;  "  but,  if  he  takes  that  shoot,  he  never  can  he  President^ 

Was  there  not  something  like  a  prophecy  in  this  careless 
rejoinder  ?,, 

Judah  Benjamin,  of  Louisiana,  one  of  the  ablest  of  Soutlie;*n 
Senators — afterward  Secretary  of  State  in  Jefferson  Davis' 
cabinet,  complimented  jNIr.  Lincoln  very  highly,  in  the  course 
of  a  speech  w^herein  he  had  occasion  to  review  this  celebrated 
series  of  debates.  Speaking  of  the  queries  propounded  by 
Douglas  to  his  opponent,  and  the  answers  they  elicited,  Mr. 
Benjamin  observed : 

"  It  is  impossible,  Mr.  President,  however  we  may  differ  in 
opinion  with  the  man,  not  to  admire  the  perfect  candor  and 


TRIBUTE   TO    THE    DECLARATION.  49 

frankness  with  which  these  answers  were  given ;  no  equivo- 
cation— no  evasion." 

During  tlie  c-.unpaign,  ]\Ir.  Lincoln  paid  the  following  noble 
tribute  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence : 

"Now,  my  conntr}'inen,  if  you  have  been  taught  doctrines 
conllicting  with  the  great  lanihnarksof  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pemlcnce;  if  you  liave  listened  to  suggestions  wliich  would  take 
away  from  its  grandeur,  and  nnitilate  the  fair  syniuictry  of  its 
proportions;  if  you  have  been  inclined  to  believe  that  all  men 
are  not  created  ecjual  in  those  inalienal)le  rights  enumerated  by 
our  chart  of  libert}',  let  ine  entreat  3'()U  to  come  back — return  to 
the  fountain  whose  waters  spring  close  by  the  blood  of  the 
Kevolution. 

"You  may  do*  any  thing  with  me  you  choose,  if  you  only 
Jieed  these  sacred  principles.  You  may  not  only  deleat  me  for  ^ 
the  Senate,  but  you  may  take  me  and  put  me  to  death.  While 
pretending  no  indilference  to  earthly  honors,  I  do  claim  to  be 
actuated  in  this  contest  by  something  higher  tlian  an  anxiety 
for  olhee.  I  charge  you  to  drop  every  paltry  and  insigniticant 
thought  for  any  man's  success.  It  is  nothing ;  1  am  nothing ; 
Judge  Douglas  is  nothing.  But  do  not  dent roij  tloit  i/umortul  em- 
blem of  humaiiitij — the  JJularatioii  of  American  I/uL'jJtndence." 

The  election  day  at  length  arrived.  Tlve  popular  vote 
stood :  for  the  Republican  candidate,  120,084 ;  for  the  Doughrs 
Democrats,  121,'JiO;  for  the  Lecompton  candidates,  5,091. 
But  the  vote  for  Senator  being  cast  by  the  Legislature,  Mr. 
Douglas  was  elected,  Ids  supporters  having  a  majority  of  ci{/hi 
on  joint  ballot.  Notwithstanding  the  result,  the  endeavors  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  during  the  debate  had  caused  an  immense  increa.se 
iu  the  Republican  vote  ;  and  his  party  had  no  reason  to  regret 
that  their  choice  of  a  leader  had  fallen  upon  him. 

Mr.  Lincoln  made  several  visits  into  other  States,  after  the 
close  of  the  Senatorial  contest,- and  before  the  opening  of  the 
campaign  of  18G0.  lie  made  several  speeches  in  Ohio  iu 
the  following  3'ear ;  and  also  visited  Kansas,  where  he  was 
received  with  great  enthusiasm.  In  February,  1800,  he  was  iu 
New  Y'ork,  and  made  a  speech  before  the  Y'oung  Glen's  Repub- 
lican Club  at  the  Cooper  Institute,  which  made  him  many 
friends  in  a  quarter  Avhere  they  were  already  numbered  b}'  the 
thousjuid.  It  was  the  finest  oration,  as  such,  pronounced  by 
the  eminent  speaker  up  to  that  time,  and  commanded  much 
attention  from  men  of  all  classes. 

A  most  touching  incident  occurred — probably  during  tliii 


50  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LES'COLN. 

visit — which  is  thus  narrated  by  a  teacher  at  the  Pive  Points 
House  of  Industry : 

"  Our  Sunday  school  in  the  Five  Points  was  assembled  one 
Sabbath  morning,  when  I  noticed  a  tall,  remarkable-looking  ^ 
man  enter  the  room,  and  take  a  seat  among  us.  He  listened 
with  fixed  attention  to  our  exercises,  and  his  countenance  ex-  • 
pressed  such  genuine  interest  that  I  approached  him  and  sug- 
gested that  he  might  be  willing  to  say  something  to  the  chil- 
dren. He  accepted  the  invitation  with  evident  pleasure,  and, 
coming  forward,  began  a  simple  address,  which  at  once  fascin- 
ated every  little  hearer,  and  hushed  the  room  into  silence. 
His  language  was  strikingly  beautiful,  and  his  tones  musical 
with  intensest  feeUng.  The  little  faces  around  him  would 
droop  into  sad  conviction  as  he  uttcied  sentences  of  warning, 
and  would  brighten  into  sunshine  as  he  spolie  cheerful  words 
of  promise.  Once  or  twice  he  attempted  to  close  his  remarks, 
but  the  imperative  shout  of  *  go  on !'  '  oh,  go  on !'  would 
compel  him  to  resume.  As  I  looked  upon  the  gaunt  and 
sinewy  frame  of  the  stranger,  and  marked  his  powerful  head 
and  determined  features,  now  touched  into  softness  by  the 
impressions  of  the  moment,  I  felt  an  irrepressible  cm"iosity  to 
learn  something  more  about  him,  and  when  he  was  quietly 
leaving  the  room,  I  begged  to  know  his  name.  He  cour- 
teously replied  ;  '  It  is  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois.'  " 

That  was  just  the  place  where  the  man  of  great  heart  loved 
to  go.  We  have  no  doubt  but  that  he  enjoyed  that  touching 
recognition,  by  the  children,  of  his  power  over  them,  more 
than  any  ovation  which  the  public  could  have  tendered. 


CHAPTER    yil. 

HOW   HE    BECAME    PRESIDENT. 

Abraham  Lixcoln  was  first  conspicuously  named  for  the 
Presidency  at  a  meeting  of  the  Illinois  State  Republican  Con- 
vention, wliere  a  Democrat  of  Macon  county  presented  to  the 
convention  two  gayly-decorated  fence-rails,  upon  which  wer« 
inscribed  the  following  words: 


THE    CUICAGO    CONVKNTIOX.  51 

ABRAHAM    LIXCOLX, 

THE  Il.VIL  CANDIDATE 

FOR  PRESIDENT  IX  18G0. 

Two  rails  from  a  lot  of  o,000,  made  in  1830  by  I'liDmas 

Uanlvs  and  Abe  Lincoln,  whose  father 

was  the  first  pioneer  of 

3Iacon  county. 

The  production  of  these  singular  and  appropriate  tokens 
of  the  glorious  advantages  which  our  democratic  institutions 
alTorded  to  the  humblest  in  life,  was  a  signal  for  enthusiastic 
applause.  ^Ir.  Lincoln,  who  happened  to  be  present  as  a 
spectator,  was  loudly  called  ui)on  for  a  speech.  He  rose  from 
his  seat,  acknowledged  that  he  had  been  a  rail-splitter  some 
thirty  years  previous,  and  said  that  he  was  informed  that  those 
before  him  were  some  which  his  own  ax  had  hewn. 

Ill  the  autumn  of  1859,  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  compliance  with 
invitations  from  various  States,  made  several  powerful  speeches 
in  favor  of  Republican  principles,  to  one  of  which — that  he 
delivered  at  Cooper  Institute,  New  York,  February  27th,  18G0 — 
we  already  have  adverted.  These  speeches  confirmed  the 
impression  which  had  been  growing  in  the  public  mind  since 
185-4,  that  Mr.  Lincoln — "  Honest  Old  Abe,"  as  he  was  chris- 
tened— was  the  man  for  President  if  the  people  could  name 
their  candidate ;  yet  few  really  anticipated  his  nomination. 

The  Republican  National  Convention  met  at  the  "  Wigwam," 
in  Chicago,  May  IGth,  18G0.  Not  less  than  ten  thousand  per- 
sons were  in  the  building,  wdiile  vast  throngs  blocked  the  en- 
trance, and  filled  the  grounds  around,  unable  to  obtain  admis- 
sion. 

Governor  Morgan,  of  New  York,  called  the  convention  to 
order  at  twelve  o'clock,  and  proposed  the  Honorable  David 
Wilmot,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  temporary  president.  ;Mr.  "\Vil- 
mot  was  accordingly  chosen,  and  made  a  brief  address  to  the 
convention  for  the  honor  bestowed,  with  some  appropriate 
remarks  as  lo  the  object  of  the  assembly  before  him,  and  the 
great  principles  involved. 

Committees  were  next  constituted.  The  committee  on 
organization  reported  the  name  of  George  Ashmun,  of  !Massa- 
chusetts,  for  permanent  president,  and  vice-presidents  mul 
secretarie'*  from  every  State  represented  in  the  conventioD 


62  THE    LIFE    OP    ABRAIIAil    LEIsCOLN. 

On  Thursday  morning  tlie  convention  again  assembled  at 
ten  o'clock,  and,  upon  the  adoption  of  rules,  it  was  agreed  a 
majoriiy  should  nominate  the  candidates. 

The  committee  on  resolutions  then  reported  the  platform, 
which  was  adopted  with  enthusiasm,  the  immense  multitude 
of  spectators  rising  to  their  feet,  with  cheer  upon  cheer  of 
applause. 

The  names  of  Messrs.  Chase,  Cameron  and  Bates  had  been 
early  urged  as  candidates,  but  it  had  soon  become  evident 
that  the  actual  contest  would  be  between  Mr.  Seward  and  Mr. 
Lincoln.  It  was  proposed  that  the  convention  should  at  once 
proceed  to  the  nomination  of  candidates,  but  an  adjournment 
was  had  until  morning.  Had  this  motion  to  proceed  at  once 
to  business  been  carried,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  Mr. 
Seward  would  have  been  the  nominee,  as  his,  at  that  time,  was 
the  most  conspicuous  name  before  the  convention  ;  but,  during 
the  night,  combinations  were  etfected  in  favor  of  jilr.  Lincoln, 
which  eventaliy  secured  his  nomination.  <-  Great  excitement 
was  manifested  in  the  convention,  upon  its  next  sitting,  and 
the  interest  with  the  audience  was  intense. 

Upon  the  first  ballot,  Mr.  Seward  had  173  1-2  votes  to  102 
for  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  others  scattering.  Upon  the  second  bal- 
lot, the  chairman  of  the  Vermont  delegation,  whose  votes  had 
previously  been  divided,  announced  that  "  Vermont  casts  her 
ten  votes  for  the  Young  Giant  of  the  West,  Abraham  Lincoln  ;" 
when  the  "  beginning  of  the  end  "  began  to  be  felt  throughout 
the  convention.  On  this  ballot,  Mr.  Seward  had  184  1-2  to  181 
for  Mr.  Lincoln ;  and  the  thhxl  ballot  gave  Mr.  Lincoln  230 
votes — nearly  a  majority. 

Hereupon  Mr.  Carter,  of  Ohio,  announced  a  change  in 
Ohio's  vote  of  four  votes  in  favor  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  which 
raised  the  excitement  of  the  convention  to  the  highest  pitch. 
Now,  as  the  choice  was  certain.  State  after  State  struggled  to 
-be  next  in  succession  to  change  votes  for  Lincoln.  The  whole 
number  of  votes  cast  at  the  next  ballot  was  466,  of  which  234 
were  necessary  to  a  choice.  Three  hundred  and  fifty-four 
were  cast  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  was,  thereupon,  declared 
duly  nominated. 

When  the  loud  applause  with  which  the  nomination  wai 
gi-eetcd  had  somewhat  subsided,  IMr.  William  Evarts,  of  New 


IS    NOMINATED    FOK    THE    PRESIDENCY.  58 

York  city  came  forward,  and  moved  that  the  nomination  bo 
made  unanimous.  Tlie  motion  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Andrews, 
of  Massaohusetts ;  and  the  n(miination  was,  accordingly,  con- 
curred in  with  unanimity. 

The  excitement,  consequent  ui)()n  tlie  nomination,  spread 
from  the  convention  to  the  audience  within  tlie  building,  and 
from  them,  like  wildtire,  to  tiie  crowds  without,  to  -whom  tl\c 
result  had  been  announced.  At  the  close  of  Mr.  Evarta' 
remarks,  a  life-size  portrait  of  Mr.  Lincoln  liad  been  displayed 
from  the  platform,  greeted  with  bursts  of  uncontrollable 
ai)plausc.  The  building  vibrated  with  the  shouts  of  the 
delighted  thousands  beneath  its  roof,  and,  with  cheer  upon 
cheer,  the  multitude  in  the  streets  caught  up  the  glad  acclaim  ; 
while,  amid  the  boom  of  artillery  salutes,  the  undulation  of 
banners,  and  the  tempestuous  gusts  of  band-music,  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  people's  choice  flashed  over  the  wires  from  Maine 
to  Kansas,  and  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf 

A  pleasant  anecdote  is  related  of  the  manner  in  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  received  his  nomination. 

lie  was  at  Springfield  during  the  sitting  of  the  convention ; 
and,  having  left  the  telegraphic  otlice  after  learning  the  result 
of  the  first  two  ballots,  was  quietly  conversing  with  some 
friends,  in  tlie  office  of  the  Slate  Journal^  while  the  casting 
of  the  third  ballot  "vvius  in  progress.  In  a  little  time,  the  result 
was  received  at  the  telegraph  ollice.  The  superintendent,  wdio 
was  present,  hastily  wrote  upon  a  scrap  of  paper:  "Mr.  Lin- 
coln, you  arc  nominated  on  the  third  ballot;"  which  he 
immediately  sent,  by  a  boy,  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  A  shout  of  ap- 
plause greeted  the  message  throughout  the  ollice  of  the  Jounuil, 
but  Mr.  Lincoln  received  it  in  silence.  Tlien  he  put  the 
paper  in  Ids  pocket,  arose,  and  said  quietly,  before  he  left  the 
room :  "  There  is  a  little  woman  down  at  our  liouse  would 
like  to  hear  this.  I'll  go  down  and  tell  her."  This  was  his 
excuse  for  retiring  to  the  privacy  of  his  own  room,  where  he 
might  commune  with  himself  alone. 

The  committee  appointed  by  the  convention  to  bear  official 
information  of  the  result,  arrived  at  Springfield  on  the  next 
day.  Mr.  Ashmun,  president  of  the  couvcuLion,  addresrsed 
ilr.  Lincoln  in  the  following  terms  : 

"  I  have,  sir,  the  honor,  in  behalf  of  the  gentlemen  who  are 


54  TTTE    hWK    OF    ABKARAM    LTNCOLN. 

present,  a  commiltee  appointed  by  tlie  Hepublican  Convention, 
recently  assembled  at  Chicago,  to  discharge  a  most  pleasant 
duty.  We  have  come,  sir,  im'dor  a  vote  of  instructions  to  that 
committee,  to  notify  3^ou  that  you  have  been  selected  by  that 
convention  of  the  Republicans  at  Chicago,  for  President  of  tiic 
United  States.  They  instruct  us,  sir,  to  notify  you  of  that 
selection,  and  that  committee  deem  it  not  only  respectful  to 
yourself,  but  appropriate  to  the  important  matter  ^vhich  they 
nave  in  hand,  that  they  should  come  in  person,  and  present  to 
you  the  authentic  evidence  of  the  acticm  of  that  convention; 
and,  sir,  without  any  phrase  which  shall  cither  be  considered 
personally  plauditor}^  to  yourself,  or  which  shall  have  anyirefer- 
ence  to  the  principles  involved  in  the  questions  wliicli  are  con- 
nected witli  your  nomination,  I  desire  to  present  to  you  the 
letter  which  has  been  prepared,  and  wdiich  informs  j'-ou  of  the 
nomination,  and  with  it  the  platform,  resolutions  and  sentiments, 
wliicli  the  convention  adopted.  Sir,  at  your  convenience,  w^e 
shall  be  glad  to  receive  from  you  such  a  response  as  it  may  be 
your  pleasure  to  give  us." 

Mr.  Lincoln  replied  : 

"J/>',  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee:  I  tender 
to  you,  and  through  you  to  the  Republican  National  Convention, 
and  all  the  people  represented  in  it,  my  profoundest  thanks  for 
the  high  honor  done  me,  w^hich  3'ou  now  formally  announce. 
Deeply  and  even  painfully  sensible  of  the  great  responsibility 
which  is  inseparable  from  this  high  honor — a  responsibility 
whicli  I  could  almost  wish  had  fallen  upon  some  one  of  the  far 
more  eminent  men  and  experienced  statesmen  whose  distin- 
guished names  were  before  the  convention,  I  shall,  by  your  leave, 
consider  more  fully  the  resolutions  of  the  convention,  denomi- 
nated the  platform,  and  without  unnecessary  or  unreasonable 
delay,  respond  to  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  in  writing,  not  doul)ting 
that  the  platform  will  be  found  satisfactoiy,  and  the  nomination 
gratefidly  accepted.  And  now  I  win  not  longer  defer  the  pleas- 
are  of  taking  you,  and  each  of  you,  by  the  hand." 

Upon  shaking  hands  with  Judge  Kelly,  of  Pennsylvania, 
ne  of  the  committee,  who  had  been  observing  his  tall  figure 
with  admiration,  Mr.  Lincoln  inquired : 

"  What  is  your  hight  ?" 

"  Six  feet  three,"  replied  the  Judge.  "  What  is  yours,  Mr. 
Lincoln  ?" 

•'  Six  feet  four." 

"  Then,"  said  Judge  Kelly,  "  Pennsylvania  bows  to  Illinois. 
My  dear  man,  for  years  my  heart  has  been  aching  for  a  Presi- 
dent that  1  could  look  up  to,  and  I  have  found  him  at  h'lst  in 


HK    ACCEPTS    THE    NOMINATION.  55 

tlu«    land    where    we    thought    there    were    none    but    IMiU 
Giants."* 

On  the  23(1,  Mr.  Lincoln  foriiiiilly  replied  Ao  tlic  ofllcial 
iiniiouncement  of  his  nomination  by  the  I'ollowing  brief  letter: 

"  SpurNOFiELD,  Illinois,  May  2nd.  ISOO. 
**  Hon  Georc.e  Ariimun,  PrcMcUnt  of  the  llcpubUcau  National 
Convention  : 
"Sir:  I  aeceiit  the  nomination  tendered  me  l)y  the  conven- 
tion over  wliieli  you  pre.^^ided,  and  of  wliieh  I  am  formally  ajt- 
pri.sed  in  the  letter  of  youi"self  and  others,  acting  as  a  committee 
of  the  convention  for  that  purpose. 

"The  declaration  of  jMiuciples  and  sentiments,  which  accom- 
panies your  letter,  meets  my  approval ;  and  it  shall  be  my  care 
not  to  violate,  or  disrcsrard  it,  in  any  part. 

"  Iinplorini^  the  assistance  of  Divine  Providence,  and  witli 
due  regard  to  the  views  and  feelings  of  all  who  were  represented 
in  the  convention  ;  to  the  rights  of  all  the  States  and  Territories, 
and  peo])le  of  the  nation  ;  tf)  the  inviolability  of  the  C<Mistitution, 
anil  the  |)erpetual  union,  haruKjiiy  and  i)rosperity  of  all,  1  atn 
most  happy  to  co-operate  for  the  practical  success  of  the  princi- 
ples declared  bv  the  convention, 

"  Vour  obliged  friend  and  feliow-citi/.en, 

"  Ahkaiiam  Lincoln." 

The  news  of  this  nomination  was  very  acceptable  to  Re- 
publicans generally.  Not  only  did  they  recognize  in  Abraham 
Lincoln  a  man  of  integrity  and  simple  virtue,  but  one  in  whom 
was  embodied  the  truly  democratic  element  of //re  America,  a 
freedom-lover,  a  right-respecter,  and  a  noble,  talented  states- 
man, sprung  from  the  very  heart  of  the  masses.  Confident  of 
their  man  and  devoted  to  their  principles — as  embodied  and 
set  forth  in  the  platform  adoj)ted  by  the  convention — -they 
entered  the  contest  with  a  zeal  and  industry  which  were 
without  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  country.  I^Iore  noi'.'<e 
was  made  in  the  campaign  of  1840,  when  log-cabins  and  hard 
cider  were  instrumental  in  electing  William  Henry  Harrison ; 
but  the  zeal  of  1800  was  more  rational  and  all-pervading, 
betjaying  a  resolute  purpose  not  to  be  defeated  which  did 
mjcU  toward  alarming  the  slave-power  for  the  perpetuity  of 
iLs  lor 3^-(tijoyed  sovereignty. 

Aiuid  the  varieil  aeelamation  which  greeted  the  nomination 
of  Lir.oln  and  Hamlin,  the  following  campaign  stanzas,  from 

•  Jn<1i;e  DoutUi  w&i  popnlarly  called  the  "Little  Giant." 


06  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LES^COLN 

the  pen  of  William  Hemy  Burleigli,  may  find  an  appropriate 
place  here : 

Up  a;rain  for  the  conflict !  onr  banner  fling  ont. 

And  Ally  aronnd  it  \vith  song  and  Avith  snout! 

Stout  of  heart,  firm  of  hand,  should  the  gallant  boys  be 

Who  bear  to  the  battle  the  flag  of  the  free  ! 

Like  our  fathers,  Avhcu  Liberty  called  to  the  strife, 

They  should  pledge  to  her  cause  fortune,  honor  and  life  I 

And  follow  wherever  she  beckons  them  on 

Till  Fretdom  exults  in  a  victory  won ! 

Then  fling  out  the  banner,  the  old  starry  banner, 

The  battle-torn  banner  that  beckons  us  on. 

Our  Leader  is  one  who,  with  conquerless  will, 
Has  climl)ed  from  the  base  to  the  brow  of  the  hill ; 
Undaunted  in  peril,  unwavering  in  t^trife, 
Ha  has  fought  a  good  fight  in  the  battle  of  life. 
And  we  trust  him  as  one  who,  come  wre  or  come  weal, 
Is  as  firm  as  the  rock  and  a«  true  as  the  steel; 
liight  loyal  and  brave,  with  no  stain  on  his  crest. 
Then  hurrah,  boys,  for  honest  "Old  Abe  of  the  Westl" 
Then  fling  out  the  banner,  the  old  starry  banner, 
The  signal  of  triumph  for  "  Abe  of  the  West  1" 

The  West,  whose  broad  acres,  from  lake-shore  to  sea, 
Now  wait  for  the  harvest  and  homos  of  the  free  1 
Shall  the  dark  tide  of  Slavery  roll  o'er  the  sod. 
That  Freedom  makes  bloom  like  the  garden  of  God? 
The  bread  of  our  children  be  torn  from  their  mouth 
To  feed  the  fierce  dragon  that  preys  on  the  South  ? 
No,  never !  the  trust  that  our  Washington  laid 
On  us,  for  the  future,  shall  ne'er  be  betrayed! 
Then  fling  out  the  banner,  the  old  starry  banner. 
And  on  to  the  conflict  with  trust  undismayed! 

The  action  taken  by:  the  Charleston  (S.  C.)  National  Demo- 
cratic Convention,  which  convened  April  23d,  by  the  slave- 
holders, is  conclusive  evidence  that  they  desired  the  success  of 
the  Republican  party,  in  order  to  consummate  the  long-talked- 
of  secession  of  the  slave  States ;  for  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  upon  the  miequivocal  Free-State  j^latform,  seems  to 
have  prompted  them  to  urge  the  most  ultra  pro-slavery  views 
upon  the  convention  with  the  design  of  securing  a  division  in 
the  ranks  of  the  Democracy — whose  union  upon  one  candi- 
date must  have  insured  the  defeat  of  the  Republicans.  The 
more  extreme  of  the  Southern  politicians  took  no  pains  to  con- 
ceal their  threats  of  rebellion  and  disunion  in  the  event  of  a 
triumph  of  the  Free-State  party ;  though  the  aSTorthem  Demo- 
crats in  the  convention  were  incredulous  that  the  menaces 
would  ever  be  carried  out.  But  if  it  had  been  more  generally 
believed,  it  is  questionable  if  the  popular  vote  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
would  have  been  diminished.     For  those  who  supported  lura 


HE    13    ELECTED    PRESFDENT.  57 

Btood  upon  the  broad,  steadfast  platforai  of  human  rights  and 
God-iutcndcd  equity — linnly  resolved  that  Freedom  should 
henceforth  spread  her  a'gis  over  the  whole  country,  and  slavery 
be  lefl  to  remain  as  the  makers  of  the  Constitution  intended, 
in  the  States  then  already  cursed  by  its  baleful  presence. 

The  result  of  the  ensuing  election,  of  Novend>er  Cth,  18C0, 
■was  that  ^Ir.  Lincoln  received  491,275  over  Mr.  Douirlas; 
1,0 18,491)  over  Mr.  Breckinridge;  and  l,27o,821  over  :Mr.  Bell; 
und  the  electoral  vote,  subsequently  proclaimed  by  Congress, 
was — foi:  Abraiiam  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  180 ;  for  John  C. 
Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky,  72 ;  for  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee, 
39 ;  for  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  13.  The  following 
States  cast  their  electoral  votes  for  i^Ir.  Lincoln :  ]Maine,  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connec- 
ticut, New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,.  Michi- 
gan, Iowa,"\Visconsin,  Minnesota,  California — sixteen  in  number. 

The  intention  of  the  Auierican  people,  in  electing  Abraham 
Lincoln  to  be  their  chief  magistrate,  was  to  restrict  the  exten- 
sion of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  and  to  abrogate  its  political 
])owcr,  whicli  had  threatened  to  become  perpetual.  The 
consequences  of  that  election  have  been  widely  dilFerent  from 
what  was  anticipated.  Possibly  the  people  of  the  North 
would  have  permitted  themselves  to  be  governed  by  their 
apprehensions  rather  than  their  sentiments,  had  they  foreseen 
that  the  insanity  of  their  "  Southern  brethren"  would  culminate 
in  the  terrible  conflict  which  devastated  the  land ;  but,  can 
there  be  a  doubt  now^  when  the  ultimate  issue  of" the  shaking 
struggle  between  freedom  and  slavery  is  so  clearly  in  view, 
that  we  are  moving  onward  to  better  things — that  the  result 
of  the  campaign  of  18G0  was  a  thing  ordained  by  Providence 
for  the  best? 

He  who  does  all  things  well  has  nations  as  well  as  indi- 
viduals in  his  keeping ;  and  that  he  permitted  the  events  of 
1800-(jl  to  culminate  in  civil  war,  must  have  been  for  some 
divine  purpose.  A  few  generations  hence  the  world  will  look 
back  with  wonder  and  awe  upon  the  appalling  trial  through 
whicli  the  Union  passed;  but,  if  they  see  as  its  fruits  a  nation 
of  freemen  who  sliudder  at  the  crimes  of  their  fathel-s  in  buy- 
ing and  selling  hun\an  flesh  and  blood,  the  sacrilico  will  bo 
docmed  to  have  been  not  too  groat. 


58  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LIXCOLIf. 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

THE  SECESSION  MOVEMEXT— MR.  LINCOLX's  RECORD — STCPENDOrs  VILLAINS 
OJ"  TUK  CONSPIRATORS  AND  IMBECILITY  OF  BUCHANAN — THE  "PKO- 
G:^ESS"  op  the  president  elect  from  ILLINOIS  TO  WASHINGTON- 
TUB   IXAUGUHATION, 

That  Abraham  Lincoln  was  for  the  subversion  of  the  Con- 
stit.l1  ion,  by  intermeddling  with  slavery  within  the  Stau-s 
wheie  it  existed,  as  was  widely  proclaimed  by  the  wicked  and 
amb  tious  leaders  of  public  opinion  in  the  South,  was  a  false- 
hood of  which  none  knew  the  falseness  better  than  themselves  * 
In  no  utterance,  public  or  private,  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
made  durmg  his  life,  was  this  principle  upheld  or  hinted.  He 
had,  irKleed,  watched  the  increase  of  the  slave  power,  and  the 
baneful  effects  it  was  producing  upon  our  Government,  with 
jealousy  and  apprehension;  but  the  means  he  would  havci 
used  to  arrest  the  evil  was  simply  by  confining  the  institution 
within  the  limits  of  those  States  which  already  had  legalized 
and  ingrafted  it  upon  their  domestic  systems.  He  had,  there- 
fore, boldly  asserted  the  right  of  Congress  to  prohibit  the 
exUmion  of  the  institution  to  the  yet  uncorrupted  systems  of 
those  Territories  which  had  come  to  us  as  free  and  untram- 
meled  as  the  broad  rivers  that  rush  through  their  wastes,  or 
the  winds  that  shake  their  grasses  and  smg  through  their 
forests. 

*  Amonsr  other  declarations  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  question  most  affect- 
ine  the  Southern  State?,  we  may  cite  his  well-known  answers  to  the 
queries  propounded  by  ilr.  Douglas  at  their  joint  debate  at  Freeport, 
Illinois,  August  2Tth,  1858.    He  then  stated: 

'•I  do  not  now.  nor  ever  did,  stand  in  favor  of  the  unconditional  repeal 
of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law. 

"I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  pledged  against  the  admission  of  any 
more  slave  States  into  the  Luion. 

•*I  do  not  stand  {)leJged  against  the  admission  of  a  new  State  into  the 
Union  with  such  a  Constitution  as  the  people  of  that  State  may  see  tit  to 

"I  do  not  stand  pledged,  to-day,  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia. 

"I  do  not  stand  pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the  slave-trade  between 
the  Slates."  ,   .  ^        .         , 

And  in  his  speech  at  the  same  time  he  alluded,  in  most  uiieqnivocal 
terms,  to  his  kindly  feeling  toward  the  Southern  States,  and  hi?  soleinu 
desire  to  ?ive  them  every  and  all  constitntioual  ri^j'ht,  even  to  the  recla- 
mation ol  their  slaves  escaping  to  free  soil. 

But  whKt  were  these  and  hundreds  of  other  similar  declarations  to  men 
»rhos>e  cause  dared  not  to  face  the  truth  ? 


~i 


THE    SECESSION    MOVfLMENT.  59 

The  Southerners  knew  this,  and  thoy  knew — many  of  them 
nad  said — that  there  was  nothiii;;  which  was  unconstitutional 
hi  sucli  principles,  and  the  promulgation  of  them.  ]}ut  when 
wicked  men  are  desirous  of  crime,  the  step  ])etween  its  incep- 
tion ajid  its  commission  is  a  In'lef  one,  and  tlie  excuses  by 
which  they  would  justify  their  Avickcdness  to  their  own  wicked 
souls  and  to  the  public,  are  as  ready  as  lies  on  the  lip  of  a 
coward,  and  as  "  thick  as  autumn  leaves  that  strew  the  brooks 
of  Vallambrosa."  The  deed  of  sin  which  was  moaning  for  a 
vent  in  the  hearts  of  the  Southern  extremists,  and  which  had 
been  Restating  for  thirty  years,  was  the  destruction  of  the 
American  Union,  and  the  foundation  of  a  slave  empire  upon 
the  North  American  continent.  The  accomplishment  of  this 
ambitious  but  detestable  scheme  was  the  underlying  and  over- 
lying motive  of  action,  and  to  secure  its  fulfdlment  truth  was 
robbed  of  its  sanctity,  honor  was  scorned  and  virtue  scouted. 
To  declare  the  election  of  Lincoln  a  just  cause  for  secession 
was  as  mean  as  it  was  false ;  j'et  it  was  only  one  of  the 
stupendous  falsehoods  by  which  the  "  Southern  heart  Avas  fired." 

It  is,  therefore,  not  wonderful  that  the  news  of  Lincoln's 
election  was  the  sigual  for  general  gratulatioa  and  undisguised 
pleasiu-o*iu  many  jxirts  of  the  South.  They  had  been  seek- 
ing excuses — here  was  one  ready  to  their  hand  1  In  vain 
did  the  Republican  party  exclaim :  "  This  is  ungener- 
ous— unfair  1  We  stood  your  Presidents,  one  after  another, 
f«)r  a  quarter  of  a  century.  You  will  surely  allow  vs — the 
majority — four  years  ;  only  a  four  j^ears  !"  The  South  had 
only,  laughed.  "  But,  at  any  rate,  be  reasonable,"  remon- 
strated the  North.  "  Only  tn/  us  !  For  never  so  brief  a 
time,  let  us,  at  least,  haYe  a  trial,  that  you  may  judge  us." 
Then  the  slave  power  fro\\Tied  ;  it  was  going  to  do  nothing 
of  the  kind.  Wliat  ! — risk  the  long-sough t-for,  at-length-dis- 
covered  excuse  for  tiie  parricidal  blow,  and.  the  establishment 
of  their  slave-kingdom — risk  that  on  the  chance  of  an  experi- 
ment Avith  the  "  Black  Republican  Abolitionists  ?"  Not  a 
bit  of  it  !  In  short,  the  news  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  elect i<m  was 
not  a  month  old  before  the  spirit  of  secession  in  South  Caro- 
lina— the  hot-bed  of  treason  ever  since  the  promulgation  of 
the  Federal  Constitution — began  to  assume  proportions  moflt 
Itartling  to  the  loyal  people  of  the  land. 


60  TIIE    LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLK. 

Mr.  Douglas  had  been  the  favorite  of  tlie  Democratic  Con- 
vention which  had  originally  assembled  at  Charleston  ;  but, 
the  slaveholding  politicians  had  managed  to  procure  tlie  nom- 
ination of  Mr.  Breckinridge,  with  a  full  knowledge  :that  the 
division  in  their  party,  thus  produced,  could  liardly  fiiil  to 
secure  the  success  of  the  Republican  candidate  at  the  polls. 
TJie  two  wings  of  the  Democratic  party,  which  were  thus 
created,  were  not  so  widely  antagonistic  in "  principles  but 
that  the  South  might  have  united  upon  that  one  represented 
by  Mr.  Douglas,  without  serious  detriment  to  their  supposed 
rights  and  jDrivileges,  had  they  been  disposed  to  preserve  the 
Union. 

Mr.  Breckinridge  represented  that  pro-slavery  element  of  the 
Democratic  party  which  demanded  the  positive  protection  of 
slave  property  in  the  Territories  against  any  legislation,  either 
of  Congress  or  of  the  people  of  the  Territories  themselves, 
that  might  seek  to  impair  their  alleged  right  of  property  in 
human  beings.     He  represented  this  destructive  principle. 

Mr.  Douglas,  on  the  contrary,  represented  the  theory  that 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Territories  had  a  perfect  right  to  de- 
cide whether  or  not  the  institution  of  slavery  should  find  foot- 
hold on  their  soil. 

Thus,  while  the  Republicans  maintained  the  right  of  Con- 
gressional interference,  in  the  Territories,  to  prohibit  the  en-  . 
trance  of  slavery,  and  the  Southern  Democrats  held  the  right 
of  Congressional  interference  to  protect  but  not  to  prohibit  (!) 
slavery  therein,  Mr.  Douglas  w^as  similarly  and  equally  op- 
posed to  both  I>Ir.  Lincoln  and  ]\Ijr.  Breckinridge,  in  the  Presi- 
dential issue. 

As  the  supporters  of  John  Bell  were  simply  the  few  who 
were  dissatisfied  with  all  existing  parties,  and  who  dared  not 
enunciate  definite  opinions  on  the  main  points  at  issue,  they 
and  their  principles  (if  they  had  ojiy)  may  be  suflered  to  pass 
as  too  insigniticjint  for  consideration. 

The  different  sections  of  the  country  had  entered  the  elec- 
tion with  equal  zeal  and  activity.  And,  as  heretofore,  the 
Lincoln,  Bell,  and  Douglas  parties,  though  desirous  of  success, 
were  fully  willing  to  abide  by  the  victory,  upon  whichever 
Btandard  it  might  happen  to  perch.'  But,  the  BreckiDridge 
Democracy  had  entered  upon  the  contest  with   the  distinct, 


TREASON    LM    TIIE   CABINET.  61 

ungenerous  intention  of  '•  acquiescing  in  the  result  only  in  tho 
<ivent  of  its  giving  them  the  victory."  The  election  of  the 
Repuhlicjin  candidate — which,  by  their  own  action,  they  espe- 
cially promoted — was  to  be  tlie  signal  for  revolt. 

When  the  secession  storm  began  to  gather  in  the  South, 
after  the  sixth  of  November,  tho  people  were  not  long  in  dis- 
covering that,  even  in  the  cabinet  of  ^Ir.  Buchanan,  there 
were  dishonorable  men  who  liad  long  been  in  active  compli- 
city with  the  traitors,  and  who  were  now  ready  to  afford  them 
all  the  aid  in  their  power.  Probably  the  j^rince  of  these  per- 
fidious creatures  was  John  B.  Flo}^!,  Secretary  of  AVar,  whose 
stupendous  tissue  of  embezzlement,  theft  and  perjury  was,  for 
a  short  time,  though  with  dilliculty,  kept  from  the  light.  So 
that,  when  General  Scent  wrote  to  the  President  and  this  Sec- 
retary, expressing  his  fears  that  the  secessionists  would  seize 
some  of  the  Federal  forts  in  the  Southern  States,  and  recom- 
mending that  the  strongholds  be  immediately  reCnforced,  in 
order  to  prevent  such  a  disaster,  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that 
the  conspirator,  Floyd,  should  endeavor,  with  his  utmost,  to 
prevent  acquiescence  in  this  politic  recommendation,  which, 
if  carried  into  practice,  must  have  greatl}"-  crippled,  if  not  ac- 
tually thwarted,  the  foul  conspiracy.  The  villainy  of  this 
Virginian  was  something  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  crime. 
A  subsequent  ollicial  report  from  the  Ordnance  Department, 
"  shows  that,  during  the  )'ear  1800,  and  previous  to  the  Presi- 
dential election,  one  hundred  and  fit\een  thousand  muskets 
had  been  removed  from  Northern  armories  and  sent  to  South- 
ern arsenals,  by  a  single  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  issued 
on  the  30th  of  December,  1859."  The  quotas  of  Government 
arms  for  the  Southern  States  were  not  only  filled  when  he 
knew  the  object  was  to  use  them  against  the  laws  and  the 
Constitution,  but  the  perfidious  servant,  antkipdtiiig  the  reso- 
lution, sent  two  3'ears'  quotas  where  only  one  was  due — thus 
stripping  the  arsenals,  and  depriving  tho  Northern  States  of 
the  riateriel  for  arming  their  citizens  to  preserve  the  Union. 
One  of  the  misfortunes  of  the  war  was  the  death,  during  its 
pendency,  of  this  man.  IIo  should  have  lived  to  endure  the 
scorn  of  his  injured  fellow-citizens,  aud  to  feel  the  weight  of 
the  law  against  treason. 

This  treachery  was  succeeded  by  a  duplicity   almost  u 


62  THE    LIFE    OF    AB11AH.\M    LESTCOLN. 

heinous,  when  the  Hon.  John  S.  Bh\ck,  in  reply  (Nov.  20th, 
I860,)  to  inquiries  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  gave  his  official  opinion, 
as  Attorney-General,  (and  a  •'  State  Rights"  advocate,  it  may 
be  added,)  that  it  was  not  in  the  power  even  of  Congress  to 
prevent  a  violation  of  the  Constitution  by  making  war  upon 
any  State ;  and  the  Executive,  it  soon  became  evident,  would 
pursue  a  course  in  conformity  with  this  theor}^ 

The  Leirislature  of  South  Carolina  initiatea  the  secession 
movement,  when,  in  November,  18G0,  that  body  passed  an 
act  summoning  a  State  Convention  to  meet  at  Columbia  on 
the  17th  of  the  ensuing  month.  Francts  TV.  Pickens,  who 
was  elected  Governor  on  the  10th,  distinct]}'-  declared,  in  his 
inaugural,  the  determination  of  South  Carolina  to  secede,  be- 
cause, "  in  Jhe  recent  election  for  President  and  A^ice-Presi- 
dent,  the  North  had  carried  the  election  upon  principles  which 
make  it  no  longer  safe  for  us  to  rely  upon  the  powers  of  the 
Federal  Government  or  the  guarantees  of  the  Federal  com- 
pact." This  wretched  sophistry  was,  nevertheless,-unequivo- 
cal,  inasmuch  as  it  foretold  the  coming  event.  The  Conven- 
tion adjourned  from  Columbia  to  Charleston  on  the  first  day 
of  its  session,  and,  on  the  20th  of  December,  an  ordinance  was 
passed,  whereby  the  ordinance  of  1788,  ratifying  the  Federal 
Constitution,  was  unanimously  declared  repealed,  and  the 
union,  existing  between  South  Carolina  and  the  United  States, 
dissolved. 

South  Carolina  was,   thus,  the  first   State  to  pass   an   ordi- 
nance of  secession.     So  far   as  she  was  concerned,  secession 
was  not  the  mushroom  growth  of  an  hour  or  a  night,  but  the 
steadily  branching  Upas  of  mpre  than  two  generatio-„s.     "  And 
the  disclosures  which  have  since  been  made,  imperfect,  com- 
paratively, as  they  are,  prove  clearly  that  the  whole  secession 
movement  was  in  the  hands  of  a  few  conspirators,  who  had 
their   head-quarters   at   the  national  capital,   and  were  them- 
selves closely  connected  with  the  Government  of  the  United 
States."     At  a   secret  meeting  of  these  conspirators,  January 
5th,   18G1,   at  which   many  Southern   Senators  were  present, 
"  it  was  decided  that  each  Southern  State  should  secede  from 
the  Union  as  soon  as  possible ;  that  a  convention  of  seceding 
States  should  be  held  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  not  later  than 
the  15th  of  February;  and  that  the  Senators  and  Members  of 


fiTUPENDOUS    VILL.\rNY    OF    THE    CONSnUATOTlfl.  63 

Congress  from  the  Soutlicrn  States  ouglit  to  ronuiin  in  their 
scats  as  long  as  possible,  in  order  to  defeat  measures  that 
might  be  proposed  at  Wasliington,  hostile  to  the  secession 
movement.  Davis,  of  ^Mississippi,  Slidell,  of  Louisiana,  and 
iMallory,  of  Florida,  were  ai)i)ointcd  a  coinmittcc  to  carry 
these  decisions  into  eflect;  and  in  pursuance  of  them,  !Missis- 
sippi  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession,  Jiuuiury  9th  ;  Alabama 
and  Florida,  January  11th;  Louisiana,  January  20th;  and 
Texas,  February  5th.  AJl  these  acts,  as  well  as  all  which  fol- 
lowed, were  simply  the  execution  of  the  behests  of  this  i^cret 
conclave  of  conspirators  who  had  resolved  npon  secession. 

It  is  dilhcult  to  realize  a  treachery  so  astounding  as  this  ; 
and  yet  these  men  were  the  representatives  of  a  class  of  pre- 
tentious aristocrats  whose  jiarlisan  cry,  for  forty  years,  had 
been  a  denunciation  of  the  dollar-worshiping  Yankees,  the 
hypocritical  Puritans,  the  cowardly  Abolitionists  1  Docs  the 
record  of  human  actions  present  a  sordidness  so  vile,  a  hy- 
pocrisy so  Satanical,  a  cowardice  so  loathsome,  as  their  own 
aspect  here — kissing  the  hand  they  intended  to  bite — accept- 
ing the  benefits  they  purposed  to  return  with  a  dagger-stroke 
— smiling  like  sunshine,  that  they  might  more  securely  bligTit, 
blacken,  and  destroy? 

Although  the  Legislatures  of  these  seceding  States  had  en- 
joined upon  the  conventions  not  to  pass  any  act  of  secession 
without  making  its  validity  depend  upon  a  popular  ratitication 
at  the  polls,  in  no  one  of  them  was  the  question  submitted  to  the 
vote  of  the  people  !  In  accordance  with  the  programme,  dele- 
gates were  commissioned  by  all  the  conventions  to  meet  at 
Montgomery  ;  and  this  inter-State  Convention  duly  assembled 
an  the  4th  of  February.  A  Provisional  Constitution  was 
adopted,  to  continue  for  one  year  ;  and,  under  this  instrument, 
Jelferson  Davis  was  elected  President  of  the  newlv-formed 
Southern  Confederacy,  and  Alexander  IL  Stephens  Vice-Presi- 
dent.    They  were  inaugurated  on  the  18th. 

The  immediate  policy  determined  on  was  to  maintain  a 
stiitus  quo  until  Mr.  Buchanan's  term  should  expire  ;  koling 
that  they  had  nothi«(»  to  apprehend  from  him,  and  hoping, 
by  an  increase  and  pretentious  display  of  power,  to  bully  the 
new  Administration  into  a  relinf[uislinient  of  any  coercive  de- 
signs which  they  might  have  coutemplateil ;  and,  with  blindnesa 


(J4  TTEE    LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LIKCOLN. 

of  fallacy  almost  like  Mality,  they  persisted  in  the  belief 
that  a  preponderating  influence  in  the  North  was  favorable  to 
their  traitor  schemes. 

The  conspirators,  however,  were  busily  preparing  for  the 
contingency  of  war.  The  South  was  alive  with  military  or- 
ganizations ;  and  the  manufticture  of  war-munitions  was  indus- 
triously prosecuted. 

The  extent  of  the  ground  we  are  compelled  to  compass,  and 
the  limited  space  to  which  we  are  allotted,  must  induce  us  to 
touch  but  lightly  upon  these  events  which  are  so  interwoven 
with  the  political  biography  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  order  that  we 
may  do  justice  to  the  most  important  of  those  which  followed. 
We  will  then  leave  for  succincter  records  the  detailed  blossom- 
ing of  the  conspii-acy,  which  we  have  rapidly  ushered  into  ex- 
istence ;  w6  will  pass  over  the  now  conceded  falsehoods  of 
Davis — the  self-treason  of  Stephens,  and  the  countless  phases 
of  wickedness,  either  rejuvenated  from  the  duplicity  of  the 
dark  ages,  or  newly  created  for  the  wonder  of  times  to  come, 
by  the  inception  of  the  slaveholders'  conspiracy,  in  order  to 
follow  the  subject  of  our  sketch  in  his  career.* 

In  all  their  -vaunting  confidence,  in  all  their  professed  con- 
tempt for  Northern  courage,  and  braggart  promises  of  future 
deeds,  the  leaders  of  the  revolt  committed  at  least  one  fatal 
fallacy — overlooked  at  least  one  unconquerable  obstacle  to 
their  success  :  they  failed  to  appreciate  the  simple  strength, 
the  honest  hardihood,  the  great-hearted,  invincible  courage  of 
Abraham  Lincoln.  It  may  be  that  his  very  simplicity  of 
soul  made  him  too  incredulous  of  the  extent  of  the  fiendish 
malignity  of  his  opponents ;  but,  when  thoroughly  cognizant 
of  their  "  depth  of  guile,"  they  found  him  a  being  to  be  feared 
forever — an  Ithuriel  whose  ^pear  was  ready  to  strike  down 
eveiy  Satanic  messenger. 

Yain  efforts  of  compromise  absorbed  the  first  months  of  the 

new  year   at  the  national  capital.     Congress   tried  its  efforts 

to    placate  the  boiling    elements  of   secession.      The  Peace 

*  The  reader  will  find  in  Victor's  "  History  of  the.Sonthern  Rebellion," 
the  whole  story  told,  with  such  an  array  of  all-Jiaportant  documents.  State 
papers,  speeches,  n'cord*  of  Conventions.  Congressional  action,  local  in- 
cidents, etc.,  as  will  place  him  in  possession  of  mo^t  of  X\n;fac^s  of  th« 
great  uprising. 


HTB   ADDRESS    AT    INDIANAPOLIS.  65 

conference  liroiiglit  forward  ifs  olivc-bniuch — Ijiit  in  vain.  Thcro 
M'as  one  tb^ng  "which  the  South  desireil: — scpanilion.  There 
fore,  no  terms  "whicli  conlfl  be  nnmed  with  a  remnant  of 
honor  on  the  purl  of  the  llcpublicans,  were  acceptable.  "  Soulli- 
em  Independence  "  the  pro-sluvery  exteusiouists  ■would  have, 
even  at  the  hazard  of  war. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  remarkably  reticent  from  the  day  of 
hi.s  election.  He  left  Springfield,  however,  on  the  11th  of 
February,  1801,  and  was  escorted  to  the  railroad  de[)ot  by  a 
large  concourse  of  his  fellow-townsmen.  He  bade  them  fare- 
well in  a  brief,  non-committal  address,  and  proceeded  on  his 
way  eastward. 

In  the  evening  after  his  arrival  at  Indianapolis,  he  made  an 
addregs  to  the  members  of  the  Legislature,  who  waited  upon 
him  in  a  body  at  his  hotel ;  and  this  address — significant  as 
it  is  in  being  hj^  first  i)ublic  allusion  to  national  affairs  since 
his  election,  and  from  the  commotion  it  created,  in  conse- 
quence, throughout  the  land,  we  must  present  in  full : 

"  H'dofP-cifizeim  of  the  State  of  Indi/tna:  I  am  here  to  thank 
5'ou  much  for  this  magnificent  welcome,  and  still  more  for  the 
very  generous  support  given  by  your  State  to  that  political 
cause  which,  I  think,  is  the  true  and  just  cause  of  the  whole 
country  and  the  wliole  world.     Solomon  says  '  there  is  a  time  to 
keep  sileuce;'  and  when  men  wrangle  by  the  mouth,  with  no 
certainty  that  they  mean  the  same  thing  while  using  the  same 
words,  it  periiaps  were  as  well  if  they  would  keep  sileuce.     The 
words  '  coercion'  and  '  invasion'  arc  much  used  in  these  days, 
and  often  with  some  temper  and  hot  blood.     Let  ns  make  sure, 
if  we  can,  that  we  do  not  misunderstand  the  meaning  of  those 
who  use  them.     Let  us  get  the  exact  definitions  of  these  words, 
not  from  dictionaries,  but  from  the  men  themselves,  who  cer- 
tainly deprecate  the  things  they  would  represent  by  the  use  of 
the   wonls.     AYhat  then   is  '  coercion  ?'     What   is   'invasion?' 
Would  the  marching  an  army  into  South  Carolina,  witliout  the 
consent  of  her  people,  a..tl  with  hostile  intent  toward  them,  be 
invasion  ?    I  certainly  think  it  would,  and  it  would  be  '  coercion' 
also,  if  the  South  (.'arolinians  were  forced  to  submit.    But  if  the 
United  States  should  i/icrdi/  hold  <ind  retalce  its  oini  fortA  and  other 
propert//,  and  coUect  the  duties  onforvif/n  i/nportations,  or  c\qu 
withhold  the  mails  from  places  Avhere  tljey  were  habiluallv  vio- 
lated, would  any  or  all  of  these  things  be  '  inv(utio)C  or  '  coercion.^ 
Do  our  professed  lovers  of  the  Union,  but  who  spitel"ully  resolvo 
that  they  will  resist  coercion  and  invasion,  understand  that  such 
things  as  these,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  would  be  coer- 
cion or  invasion  of  a  vStatc?    If  so,  their  idea  of  means  to 


66  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

preserve  the  object  of  their  great  affection  would  seem  to  be  ex- 
ceedingly tliiii  and  airy.  If  sick,  the  little  pills  of  the  homoeop« 
athist  would  be  much  too  large  for  it  to  swallow.  In  their  view, 
the  Union,  as  a  family  relation,  would  seem  to  be  no  regular 
marriage,  but  rather  a  sort  of  '  free-love"  arrangement,  to  be 
maintained  on  passional  attraction.  By  the  way,  in  what  con- 
sists the  special  sacredness  of  a  State  ?  I  speak  not  of  the  posi- 
tion assigned  to  a  State  in  the  Union  by  the  Constitution,  for 
that  is  the  bond  we  all  recognize.  That  position,  however,  a 
State  can  not  carry  out  of  the  Union  with  it.  I  speak  of  that 
assumed  primary  right  of  a  State  to  rule  all  which  is  less  than 
itself,  and  to  ruin  all  which  is  larger  than  itself  If  a  State  and 
a  county,  in  a  given  case,  should  be  equal  in  extent  of  territory 
and  equal  in  number  of  inhabitants,  in  what,  as  a  matter  of  prin- 
ciple, is  the  State  better  than  the  county  ?  Would  an  exchange 
of  name  be  an  exchange  of  rights  ?  Upon  what  principle,  upon 
what  rightful  principle,  may  a  State,  being  no  more  than  one- 
fiftieth  part  of  the  nation  in  soil  and  population^  break  up  the 
nation,  and  then  coerce  a  proportionably  larger  subdivision  of 
itself  in  the  most  arbitrary  way  ?  What  mysterious  light  to 
play  tyrant  is  conferred  on  a  district  of  country  with  its  people, 
by  merely  calling  it  a  State  ?  Fellow-citizens,  I  am  not  assert- 
ing any  thing.  I  am  merely  asking  questions  for  you  to  con- 
sider.   And  now,  allow  me  to  bid  you  farewell." 

Mr.  Lincoln  quitted  Indianapolis  for  Cincinnati,  and  ar- 
rived there  about  noon.  He  was  welcomed  by  the  Mayor  of 
the  city,  and  made  a  response^  something  in  the  same  judicious 
vein  which  characterized  his  Indianapolis  speech.  In  the 
evening,  he  responded  warmly  to  a  congratulatory  address 
from  the  German  Republican  Associations  of  the  city — earn- 
estly indorsing  the  homestead  bill,  and  speaking  of  the  ad- 
vantages which  the  public  lands  of  our  country  offered  to  the 
oppressed  laborers  of  the  Old  World.  A  committee  from  the 
Ohio  Legislature  escorted  him  to  Columbus  on  the  morning 
of  the  13th.  Arriving  there  at  two  o'clock,  p.  m.,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  tlie  Assembly  hall,  where  he  was  welcomed  by 
Lieutenant-Governor  Kirk.  From  Mr.  Lincoln's  brief  re- 
sponse— in  which  we.  see  the  same  cautious,  non-committal 
spirit  as  before — we  extract  the  following  : 

"  Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  interest  felt  in  relation  to  the 
policy  of  the  new  Administration.  In  this,  I  have  received, 
from  some,  a  degree  of  credit  for  having  kept  silence,  from  others 
some  depreciation.  I  still  think  I  was  right.  In  the  varying 
and  repeatedly  shifting  scenes  of  the  present,  without  a  prece- 
dent which  could  enable  me  to  judge  from  the  past,  it  has  seemed 


ENTHrSIABM    OP   THE    PEOPLE.  W 

fitting,  that  before  speaking  upon  the  difllculties  of  tlie  country, 
I  sliould  have  gained  a  view  of  the  "vvhole  field.  To  be  sure, 
aOcr  all,  I  would  bo  at  liberty'  to  modify  and  change  the  couree 
of  policy,  as  future  events  might  make  a  change  necessary. 

"  I  haven<;t  maintained  silence  from  any  want  of  real  anxiety. 
It  is  a  good  thing  that  there  is  no  more  than  anxiety,  for  there 
is  nothing  going  wrong.  It  is  a  consoling  cireuiubtance  that 
when  we  look  out  there  is  nt)thing  that  really  luirts  anybody. 
"NVe  entertain  dillerent  views  upou  political  questions,  but  no- 
body is  sull'ering  any  thing.  This  is  a  most  cr)nsoling  circum- 
stance, ami  from  it  1  judge  that  all  we  want  is  time  and  jnitience. 
Olid  a  reliance  on  that  God  who  has  never  forsaken  this 
people." 

The  Legislature  then  adjourned,  and,  in  the  evening,  Mr. 
Lincoln  saw  a  number  of  visitors  at  a  levee  held  at  his  hotel. 
From  Columbus  lie  proceeded  through  Steubenville — where 
he  also  delivered  a  brief  address — and  reached  Pittsburg  on 
the  evening  of  the  14th.  A  large  concourse  was  awaiting 
him  at  the  hotel,  and  he  acknowledged  their  reception  in  tit- 
ting  terms.  The  IMayor  and  Common  Council  waited  upon 
him  next  morning,  and  in  answering  to  an  address  of  wel- 
come by  the  Mayor,  ]\Ir.  Lincoln  replied  in  an  appropriate 
speech — still  but  vaguely  alluding  to  the  condition  of  the 
countr}\ 

Proceeding  from  Pittsburg,  through  Cleveland,  where  he 
also  spoke,  he  next  reached  Buffalo,  where  he  also  responded 
to  an  address  of  welcome  by  the  acting  Mayor — ex-President 
Fillmore  being  present. 

„  Remaining  at  Buffalo  over  Sunday,  the  17th,  Mr.  Lincoln 
proceeded  to  Alban}'  on  the  morning  of  the  18th,  making 
short  responses  to  welcomes  at  Rochester,  Syracuse,  and  Utica, 
on  the  route.  lie  was  escorted  to  the  steps  of  the  Capitol, 
on  reaching  Albany,  by  a  large  procession,  and  was  warmly 
welcomed  by  the  Governor,  to  whom  he  fittingly  replied  ;  and, 
shortly  after,  he  delivered  an  address  to  the  Legislature. 
Kn  route  to  New  York,  the  President  elect  passed  through 
Troy,  Hudson,  Poughkeepsie,  and  Peekskill,  reaching  New 
York  at  three  o'clock,  p.  m.,  of  the  19th.  His  reception  by 
the  inhabitants  and  authorities  of  the  great  metropolis,  was 
an  event  worthy  of  note,  as  indicating  not  only  the  temper  of 
the  people  in  the  "monetary  heart"  of  the  nation  toward  th< 
"  out-West "  represeutativc,  but  as  expressive  of  their  sense  of 


68  THE    LIFE    OP   ABRATTAM   LEsCOLN. 

the  man's  ability  to  cope  with  the  peril  by  which  he  was  am* 
rounded 

The  reception  in  Xew  York  city  was  one  of  the  most 
interesting  demonstrations  ever  witnessed  in  behalf  cf  a  single 
m dividual.  Work  generally  was  suspended-  By  noon  the 
gi'cat  thoroughfare  of  Broadway — down  which  the  cortege 
would  pass — became  crowded  with  the  outpouring  multitude. 
Houses  were  lined  with  spectators ;  the  *  Stars  and  Stripes' 
huns:  from  a  thousand  windows  and  floated  from  a  thousand 
house-tops ;  banners  were  flung  across  the  streets,  bearing  en- 
livening and  patriotic  inscriptions  ;  the  shipping  in  the  harbor 
was  decorated  in  all  its  various  colors ;  handkerchiefs  flouted 
from  innumerable  windows  and  doors,  T\hile  beauty  and 
fashion  shone  out  of  casements  like  creations  especially  or- 
dered to  grace  that  Republican  triumph.  The  crowd  "on  the 
streets  numbered  several  hundred  thousand  ;  but,  so  admira- 
bly were  all  arrangements  made  by  the  excellent  police  of  the 
city,  no  accident  or  '  row'  occurred  to  mar  the  quiet  and 
pleasure  of  the  aftenioon.  As  the  Presidential  carriage  passed 
down  the  street,  the  huzzas  became  deafening.  The  great 
lines  of  waving  flags  and  handkerchiefs  looked  like  ripples 
bursting  and  fl}ing  before  the  ship's  prow,  and  scintillating 
and  eddying  in  her  wake.  The  President  stood  uncovered, 
bowing  to  the  people  and  acknowledging  the  welcome  ex- 
tended on  every  side.  A  reporter  of  one  of  the  city  journals 
wrote  of  the  demonstration :  '  "We  but  reflect  the  popular 
opinion  when  we  say  that  the  ovation  was  one  of  the  grand- 
est and  most  soul-stirring  we  have  ever  witnessed.  Though 
the  President  elect  was  evidently  jaded,  careworn,  and  op- 
pressed with  a  weighty  responsibility,  he  was  also  firm,  self- 
possessed,  and  appeared  equal  to  the  stupendous  task  before 
him.  He  seemed  to  impress  the  people  with  this  conviction, 
as  he  rode  along,  and  a  glimpse  of  his  plain,  straight-forward, 
honest  face,  so  full  of  deep,  earnest  thought,  of  direct  single- 
ness of  purpose,  of  thorough  purity  of  motive  and  patriotic 
impulse,  so  won  upon  the  multitude,  that  they  burst  into  such 
spontaneous,  irrepressible  cheers,  as  gladdened  the  heart  and 
moistened  the  eye,  and  made  everybody  forget  the  turbulence 
and  anarchy  of  secession,  now  raging  in  the  land,  in  their 
implicit  confidence  in  the  coming  man. 


HIS   KKCEPTION    IN    NKW    YOKK. 

The  '  Astor  House'  was  given  up  to  the  events  of  the  day 
and  evrning.  During  the  evening  a  reception  was  luld,  at 
■wliich  tlic  President  received  various  pul)lic  hodies  and  emi- 
nent citizens.  Tlic  directing  minds  of  tlie  great  commercial  cen- 
ter were  in  attendance,  to  oiler  the  Chief  Magistrate  their  hands. 

nis  formal  recei)tion  by  the  Mayor,  Fernando  "Wood — a 
rccognizetl  Democrat  of  the  strictest  "  State  rights  "  and  pro- 
Blavery  sect — took  place  on  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  at  the 
City  Hall.  His  Honor's  "official  welcome"  was  as  frigid  as 
courtesy  would  pennit.  He  simply  read  his  august  guest  a 
brief  lecture  on  his  duty — presuming,  with  the  usual  impu- 
dence of  Democrats  of  the  pro-slavery  school,  that  a  "  Black 
■Repuhlican"  did  not  know  what  duty  was.  The  President's 
reply  was  couched  in  a  dignity  and  good  taste  quite  in  con- 
trast with  the  want  of  both  iu  his  host.  A  public  introduc- 
tion followed.  For  two  hours  the  patient  crowd  passed  tho 
President,  each  person  shaking  him  by  the  hand  in  the  hurried 
salutation.  ]\Iany  had  a  word  to  offer — to  all  of  which  the 
Chief  Magistrate  replied  kindly.  Returning  to  the  *  Astor,' 
Mr.  Lincoln  received  the  leading  men  of  the  city  and  State, 
as  well  as  those  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  Vice- 
President  elect,  Mr.  Hamlin,  joined  the  President  here.  Dur- 
ing the  evening  the  opera  was  visited.  His  appearance  in 
the  stage-box  was  greeted  by  a  perfect  fury  of  applause.  The 
curtaiii  lifted  and  the  chorus  came  forward,  while  two  cele- 
brated singers  sung  the  '  Star-Spanglod  Banner,'  to  the  chorus 
of  which  the  audience  added  its  shouts  of  approval.  *  Hail 
Columbia'  followed,  with  equal  popular  furore.  Un  hallo  in 
Maschera  was  for  a  moment  forgotten,  and  overwhelmed  in 
the  crude  Ij'iic.  At  the  end  of  tlie  second  act  of  the  opera, 
the  President  and  his  escort  returned  to  the  '  Astor,'  where 
Mrs.  Lincoln  was  liolding  a  reception. 

Leaving  New  York,  Thursday  morning,  the  Common  Coun- 
cil of  Jei-sey  City  escorted  him  to  their  municipality.  Salvos 
of  artillery  and  an  immense  concourse  of  people  welcomed 
him.  The  great  passenger  depot  was  gayly  decorated  in  his 
honor.  After  a  brief  speech  in  reply  to  the  cordial  welcome 
extended  on  behalf  of  New  Jersey,  by  Hon.  Wm.  L.  Dayton, 
the  President  elect  proceeded  South,  having  most  gratifying 
rccci)lion3  at  Newark  and  Trenton,  (where  he  was  the  guest 


70  THE    LITE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  the  Legislature,)  and  arriving  in  Philadelphia  at  four,  P.  M. 
to  be  again  confronted  by  an  almost  endless  throng.  He  waa 
escorted  to  the  hotel  by  the  Mayor,  Common  Council,  and 
Committees  of  the  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  Legislatures, 
with  a  strong  body  of  police  and  mounted  dragoons,  as  an 
honorary  body-guard.  He  addressed  the  people  from  the  bal- 
cony of  the  hotel,  and  made  a  very  happy  impression.  Levees 
were  held  during  the  evening,  at  which  most  of  the  eminent 
citizens  present  in  the  city  were  jDresented  to  him.  On 
Friday  morning  he  attended  upon  the  ceremony  of  a  flag- 
raising  over  the  old  Hall  of  Independence — so  memorable  in 
the  history  of  the  country  and  of  liberty.  At  an  early  hour 
the  whole  area  around  was  densely  crowded  with  citizens  and 
societies.  Being  escorted  to  the  old  '•  Cradle  of  Liberty,"  and 
greeted  with  a  very  handsome  address  by  Theo.  L.  Cuyler, 
the  Chief  Magistrate  elect  responded  with  great  feeling  and 
patriotic  fervor.  His  words  are  well  worthy  of  repetition, 
but  we  are  constrained  to  omit  them. 

His  remarks  finished,  with  his  own  hands  he  raised  the 
national  colors,  amid  the  salvos  of  artillerj^  and  the  shouts  of 
the  gathered  thousands. 

As  the  guest  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature,  he  proceeded 
to  Harrisburg,  addressing  the  gathered  multitudes  at  Lancas- 
ter, the  home  of  James  Buchanan,  whose  unhappy  reign  was 
so  soon  to  devolve  upon  the  untried  strength  of  the  Western 
man.  He  was  given  a  very  warm  reception  by  the  best  citi- 
zens of  the  county — "  democratic  "  as  it  was.  At  the  State 
capital  the  welcome  was  unusually  imposing.  The  town  was 
gayly  decorated  with  flags,  and  guns  were  fired  in  his  honor. 
The  Chief  Magistrate  was  escorted  by  Governor  Curtin  and 
the  Legislative  Committee  to  his  hotel,  in  an  open  carriage 
drawn  by  six  white  horses,  and  accompanied  by  a  fine  military 
garde  de  corps.  He  addressed  the  eager  throng  from  the  bal- 
cony of  the  hot^l.  At  the  legislative  halls,  addresses  were  de- 
livered by  the  Speakers  of  the  Senate  and  the  House.  The 
presiding  ofiicers  of  the  Legislature  of  the  strongly  "  demo- 
cratic "  State  uttered  sentiments  of  loyalty  and  devotion  quite 
unexpected,  and  the  President,  in  reply,  breathed  sentiments 
indicative  of  his  pui-pose  to  sustain  the  honor  and  to  enforc6 
the  la-ws  at  all  hazards. 


THE    CONSPIRACY    TO    ABSASSINATE    ITOr.  71 

An  aflcmoon  reception  followed.  Hi  retired  to  his  room 
at  §ix  o'clock — it  bein^  generiiUy  understood  that  he  was  il' 
from  over-fatigue ;  but  he  was  soon  en  routs  for  Washington. 
iiJlucli  surprise  was  manifested  throughout  tlie  country  at  this 
flight  by  night,  and  the  enemies  of  the  incoming  Administra- 
tion were  disposed  to  give  an  air  of  ridicule  to  his  hasty  and 
secret  journey  from  Harrisburg  to  the  national  capital.  But  dis- 
closures which  Mere  afterward  made  fully  justilied  and  com- 
mended the  precaution  which  had  been  taken.  Even  before 
his  departure  from  Illinois,  a  rumor  had  been  current  that  ho 
would  not  be  permitted  to  reach  Washington  alive.  Indeed, 
on  the  11th  of  February,  at  the  commencement  of  his  jour- 
ney, an  attempt  was  made  to  throw  the  train  in  whieh  he  was 
jounuying  from  the  track ;  and,  as  he  was  leaving  Cincinnati, 
it  was  discovered  that  a  hand-grenade  had  been  secreted  in 
the  cars.  These  and  other  circumstances  led  to  investigations, 
through  the  police,  which  disclosed  the  fact  that  a'  small  band 
of  assassins,  headed  by  an  Italian  under  the  assumed  name  of 
Oi"Hini,  had  been  organized  with  the  express  intention  of  taking 
his  life  on  his  passage  through  Baltimore.  Accordingly,  acting 
under  the  advice  of  General  Scott,  Mr.  Seward,  and  other 
friends,  and  disguised  by  a  Scotch  plaid  cap  and  cloak,  he 
left  Ilarrisburg,  by  a  special  train,  for  Philadelphia,  and  thence 
proceeded  in  the  regular  midnight  train  for  Baltimore  and 
Washington,  reaching  the  national  capital  on  the  morning  of 
Saturday,  the  23d,  at  an  early  hour. 

The  general  scorn  and  laughter  with  which  this  transit  was 
greeted  by  the  rebel  sympathizers  were  more  pretended  than 
real,  and  probably  the  result  of  pique  at  having  failed  in  their 
murderous  designs.  Their  next  standing  threat  was,  that  the 
President  elect  should,  never  be  inaugurated.  -^ 

The  Chief  Magistrate's  veiy  suilden  advent  took  all  by  sur- 
prise. Preparations  on  a  large  scale  had  been  made  for  his 
reception  ;  the  Ma3'or  had  written  an  address  of  congratula- 
tion and  welcome ;  the  military  had  prepared  new  unifonns 
and  rebumiiiJied  their  arms ;  the  two  Houses  of  Congress 
were  in  for  an  early  adjournment,  and  tlie  "coming  man"  was 
the  theme  of  general  remark.  All  preconcerted  arrangements 
■were  frustrated,  for  he  came  into  their  midst  an  unheralded 
and  unexpected  guest.     When  it  became  known  that  ho  was 


72  THE    LIFE    OF    AURAHAM    LDnCOLN. 

in  the  city,  his  hotel  •sws  thronged — all  anxious  for  a  "word 
with  him  who  was  to  direct  the  destiny  of  the  Eepublic  for 
good  or  evil.  But  he  remained  inaccessible  to  all  visitors. 
Xt  eleven  o'clock,  in  company  with  Mr.  Seward,  he  called 
upon  Mr.  Buchanan.  The  surprise  of  the  occupant  of  the 
White  House  was  great ;  but,  he  gave  his  successor  a  very 
cordial  greeting.  The  Cabinet  being  in  session,  Mr.  Lincoln 
passed  into  its  chamber,  to  the  astonishment  and  delight  of 
its  members.  A  call  was  made  upon  General  Scott,  but  the 
veteran  was  not  on  duty.  Thus,  dispensing  with  all  official 
formalitj%  the  Republican  President  set  a  good  example  of 
republican  simplicity  of  manners  and  kindness. 

"  During  the  remainder  of  the  day  he  received  visitors  free- 
ly. All  partisan  feeling  seemed  to  De  forgotten,  and  Demo- 
crats vied  with  Republicans  in  their  really  genial  welcome. 
Only  the  -extreme  Southern  men  stood  aloof ;  they  had  no 
word  of  felicitation  for  the  man  who,  it  was  felt,  would  rule 
without  fear,  and  prove  faithful  to  his  oath  to  '  sustain  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws.' 

"  In  the  evening,  by  appointment,  Mr.  Lincoln  received  the 
Peace  Congress  '  members.  The  entire  body  was  presented 
to  him,  and  a  cordial  hour  passed  in  an  informal  greeting. 
After  the  interview,  the  President  was  called  upon  to  confront 
the  ladies  of  Washington,  who  had  congregated  .in  the  parlors 
of  the  hotel,  to  be  introduced  to  a  man  of  "whose  ugliness  of 
feature  and  imgainliness  of  form  they  had  heard  so  much. 
Mr.  Lincoln  received  them  in  a  manner  at  once  graceful  and 
possessed.  This  closed  his  first  day  at  the  capital.  There- 
after he  was  to  enter  upon  the  thorny  field  of  administration. 
A  Cabinet  was  to  be  chosen,  Ministers  to  be  selected,  a  settled 
policy  to  be  drawn  out  of  that  fearful  distraction.  The  brief 
interval  of  ten  days,  prior  to  his  inauguration,  was  to  be 
the  most  trying  of  his  experience ;  for  the  claims  of  persons 
to  posts  of  honor — the  rights  of  sections — the  harmonization 
of  conflicting  interests — the  disposition  of  places  demanding 
a  peculiar  fitness — all  were  among  those  minor  annoy ancea 
of  administration  which  rendered  the  yoke  any  thing  but 
easy  to  bear.'* 

The  4th  of  March,  1861,  was  a  beautiful  day ;  and  the  event 
of  the  hour  had  thronged  Washington  with  a  vast  concourse 


THE    TN.VUOUUATION.  73 

in  whicli  every  State,  from  ocean  to  ocean,  -was  amply 
represented.  In  the  Senate,  Vicc-Presiilent  Breckinridge  rc- 
Bi:;ned  the  chair,  in  a  few  courtoons  words,  to  his  snccessor, 
Vice-President  Hamlin  ;  seats  allotted  to  the  Ministers  of  for- 
eign powers  were  then  filled  by  that  body  In  full  dress,  dis- 
playing the  insignia  of  their  various  orders.  TIic  Justices  of 
the  Supremo  Court  nexi;  entered.  Tlie  whole  assemblage,  up- 
on learning  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  entered  the  buiMing,  then 
proceeded  to  the- eastern  portico  of  the  Capitol,  on  which  a 
platform  was  erected,  and  before  which  a  vast  concourse,  con- 
sisting of  up^^^lrd  of  thirty  thousand  persons,  was  assembled. 
The  President  elect  Wiis  introduced  to  them  by  Senator  Ed- 
ward D.  Baker,  of  Oregon,  amid  most  enthusiastic  cheering. 
Silence  restored,  Mr.  Lincoln  read,  in  liis  lucid,  distinct  tones, 
t!ie  Inaugural  Address. 

Tliis  paper,  for  the  insertion  of  which  we  can  not  spare 
room,  is  probably  the  most  remarkable  document  of  the  kind 
as  yet  produced  in  America.  The  autlior  evidently  still  was 
incredulous  of  the  implacable  nature  of  his  enemies,  and 
thought  to  soothe  the  angry  elements  by  merely  disabusing 
the  mind  of  "  the  South  "  of  Ler  misapprehensions  as  to  the 
feeling  at  the  North,  and  as  to  the  future  course  of  his  admin- 
ministration.  This  tone  of  conciliation,  kindness,  dispassion- 
ate entreaty,  indeed,  was  the  ruling  feature  of  the  address. 

The  oath  of  office  was  then  administered  by  Chief  Justice 
Taney,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  proceeded  to  the  White  House,  ac- 
companied by  ex-President  Buchanan.  The  latter  bade  adieu 
to  his  successor,  and  retired  to  the  residence  of  his  friend, 
Robert  Ould,  whom  ho  hail  made  a  U.  8.  District  Attorney, 
and  who,  soon  after,  fled  to  Richmond,  to  enter  at  once  the 
rebel  military  service,  following,  in  his  defection  and  treason, 
three  other  late  members  of  ^Mr.  Buchanan's  cabinet.  Into 
such  hands  had  "  Democracy  "  committed  the  «(estinie9  of  tho 
Union. 


j;^4  THE   LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LEN^COLN. 


CHAPTER     IX. 

THE   WAR-CLOUD   DEEPEX3   AND   BURSTS. 

The  Inaugural  Address  "was  received  with  general  satisfac- 
tion in  the  loyal  States,  including  the  Border  States,  in  the 
main.  But,  of  course,  in  these  latter  States,  as  in  the  South, 
there  were  thousands  of  schembig  minds  ready  to  misconstrue 
and  misrepresent  any  inaugural  address  which  the  new  Presi- 
dent might  chance  to  present.  Every  effort  was,  therefore, 
made  to  spread  through  the  Border  States  the  idea  that  the 
inaugural  was  intended  as  a  covert  declaration  of  war  upon 
the  Southern  States ;  and  many  of  these  efforts  were  more  or 
less  successful  in  the  accomplishment  of  their  object. 

The  President's  first  act  was  to  construct  his  Cabinet,  by 
the  appointment  of  William  H.  Seward,  of  Kew  York,  Secre- 
tary of  State ;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  of  Ohio,  Secretary,  of  the 
Treasury ;  Simon  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania,  Secretary  of 
War  ;  Gideon  Welles,  of  Connecticut,  Secretary  of  the  Navy ; 
Caleb  B.  Smith,  of  Indiana,  Secretary  of  the  Interior ;  Mont- 
gomery Blair,  of  Maryland,  Postmaster-General ;  and  Edward 
Bates,  of  Missouri,  Attorney-General.  The  Senate  having 
confirmed  all  these  nominations,  the  gentlemen  immediately 
entered  upon  the  discharge  of  their  duties. 

The  South  had  been  busily  preparing  for  war ;  the  North 
still  longed  for  peace,  and  had  made  no  preparation  whatever. 
Indeed,  Mr.  Buchanan's  policy  seems  to  have  been  to  leave 
the  ship  of  state  a  wreck  in  his  successor's  hands.  JVIr.  Lin- 
coln found  all  departments  of  the  government  not  only  disor- 
ganized, but  the  mischievous  sentiment  had  been  studiously 
disseminated  that  the  General  Government  had  no  power  to 
enforce  the  laws  ;  hence  the  very  officers  of  the  land  had,  to  a 
great  degree,  ceased  to  respect  laws  which  they  had  not  the 
power  to  compel  the  people  to  obey.  The  world  never  wit- 
nessed so  wretched  and  disgraceful  a  close  to  any  man's  terra 
of  power  as  in  the  case  of  James  Buchanan. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  two  gentlemen,  Messrs.  John  Forsj^th 
of  Alabama,   and   Crawford,   of  Georgia,  styling   themselve? 


TILR    BOMHAUDMENT    OP    POUT    BUMTER.  9S 

*  Commissioners "  from  the  Southern  Ccjnfedemcv,  appeared 
at  Washington  with  a  view  to  negotiate  for  an  adjustment  of 
all  questions  between  the  "  two  Governments,"  and,  for  this 
puipose,  requesting  an  interview  with  tlie  Secretary  of  State, 
which  was  very  properly  declined,  on  the  ground  that  it  "  could 
not  be  admitted  that  the  States  referred  to  had,  in  law  or  fact, 
withdrawn  from  the  Federal  Union,  or  that  they  could  do  so 
rh  any  other  manner  than  with  the  consent  and  concert  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  to  bo  given  through  a  National 
Convention,  to  be  assembled  in  conformity  with  the  provisions 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States."  This  communica- 
tion was  framed  on  the  loth  of  March,  but,  with  the  consent 
of  the  Commissioners  themselves,  was  withheld  until  April  8th, 
when  it  was  delivered.  Its  receipt  and  character,  when  made 
known  at  Charleston,  were  made  the  occasion  of  precipitating 
the  tragedy  of  Sumter,  which,  it  was  thought,  could  not  fail 
to  unite'  all  the  Southern  people  as  one  man  against  the 
North. 

General  Beauregard,  the  Confederate  commander  at  Charles- 
ton, was,  accordingly,  instructed  to  demand  the  surrender  of 
Fort  Sumter,  around  which  a  cordon  of  rebel  batteries  had 
been  gradually  drawn  so  completely  as  to  make  compulsion, 
in  case  of  a  refusal,  merely  a  matter  of  time.  General  Beaure- 
gard accordingly  made  his  demand  on  the  11th  of  April ;  but 
Major  Anderson,  commanding  the  fort,  at  once  replied  that 
his  *'  sense  of  honor  and  his  'obligations  to  his  Government 
prevented  his  compliance."  Further  corre^ondence  took 
place,  but  the  unwavering,  loj'al  soldier  could  not  be  shaken 
in  his  purpose  to  defend  his  trust,  or  yield  it  up  in  ruins. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  cowardly  capture  of 
Anderson  and  his  handful  of  men  by  the  combined  batteries 
and  multiplied  legions  of  South  Carolina  and  her  sisters  in  the 
plot  of  treason.  On  the  12th /of  April,  fire  was  opened,  and 
Sumter  was  bombarded  to  its  fall — the  formal  surrender  and 
evacuation  taking  place  on  Sunday  morning,  the  14th. 

The  blow  was  at  last  struck — the  deed  accomplished.  The 
patiently-proffered  olive-branch  of  the  North  and  of  the 
Union  was  trampled  in  the  dust  by  traitor  feet.  "War  was  not 
only  proclaimed — insisted  upon  by  the  South — but  actually 
had  commenced ;  the  sword  was  not  only  drawn  menacingly, 


76  THE    LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

but  its  bright  blade  was  crimson  with  parricidal  blood.  "What 
was  left  for  the  North  ?  Simply  what  followed — war ;  war 
for  the  laws,  for  the  Constitution,  for  the  preservation  of  our 
nationality — war  for  honor,  peace  and  glm'y  !  The  country 
had  calmly  borne  every  thing  up  to  this  time — insult,  injury, 
monstrous  treachery — but  now  the  cup  was  full  to  overflowing, 
the  fratricidal  hand  was.  red  with  a  brothers  blood,  and  the 
Korth,  springing  to  arms,  as  a  single  hero,  accepted  the  dread 
challenge  of  war,  and  flung  away  the  scabbard — a  signal  of 
absolute  victory  or  certain  death.  In  this  crisis,  fortunate 
indeed  for  the  Union,  for  liberty  and  for  humanity,  was  the 
North  in  having  for  a  leader  that  child  of  the  people,  with 
spirit  tempered  to  iron  endurance  in  the  great  battle  of  life — 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

On  the  day  after  the  evacuation  of  Sumter  appeared  that 
famous  call  for  75,000  men  to  suppress  the  rebellion  of  South- 
ern slaveholders,  which  created  such  unbounded  enthusiasm 
throughout  the  country.  Every  State  still  loyal  responded 
promptly  and  with  profusion.  In  a  brief  time  after  the  issue 
of  the  proclamation,  the  patriot  legions  of  the  Union  were 
pouring  toward  the  capital.  But  dark  days  were  included  in 
that  brief  time ;  for  an  attack  upon  Washington,  either  from 
Virginia  or  Maryland,  was  hourly  apprehended,  and  the  small 
force  of  volunteers  which  General  Scott  was  enabled  to  raise 
from  the  District  was  but  a  frail  protection.  In  this  trying 
period  the  cheerfulness,  courage  und  trust  of  our  Chief  Magis- 
trate never  for  one  moment  deserted  him.  And,  shortly  after, 
the  gallant  New  York  Seventh  reached  the  capital,  bringing 
sunshine  by  its  presence.  The  Massachusetts  Sixth  followed 
— the  first  regiment  in  the  galaxy  of  glory,  in  having  shed 
blood  for  its  country,  having  fought  its  way  through  the  pro- 
slavery  mobs  of  Baltimore. 

The  murderous  assault  on  our  volunteers  at  Baltimore  was 
felt  as  an  outrage  throughout  the  loyal  States.  The  Baltimore 
and  Maryland  authorities  pretended  that  their  people  were 
uncontrollable,  and  Governor  Hicks  and  Mayor  Brown  imited 
in  a  letter  to  the  President,  requestmg  that  no  more  troops 
Bhould  pass  through  Maryland.  In  his  reply,  through  Secre- 
tary Seward,  Mr.  Lincoln  reproached  these  unpatriotic  ofBcials 
in  the  following  teims : 


THE    BLOCKADING    PROCLAMATION.  77 

"  The  President  can  not  Ijiit  remember  that  there  lias  been 
a  time  in  the  history  of  our  country  when  a  General  of  the 
Amorican  Union,  with  forces  dcsii^ned  for  the  defense  of  its 
c^ipital,  was  not  unwch^omc  anywhere  in  thu  State  of  i\Iark'- 
laM'\  and  certainly  not  at  Annapolis,  then,  as  now,  the  capital 
of  that  patriotic  State,  and  then,  also,  one  of  the  capitals  of 
the  Union." 

It  was,  however,  snbsequently  agreed  between  General  Scott 
and  the  3Iaryland  authorities  that  troops  should  not,  for  the 
present,  be  marched  through  Baltimore,  but  forwarded  by  way 
of  Annapolis. 

On  the  lOlh  of  April,  Mr.  Lincoln  is.sued  his  proclamation, 
blockading  the  ports  of  seceded  States.  These,  and  several 
subsequent  ordei-s,  wero  the  steps  by  which  the  Government 
Bought  to  defend  itself;  for  the  tone  of  the  Southern  press, 
as  well  as  the  declarations  of  rebel  ofTicials,  plainly  indicated 
that  it  was  their  purpose  to  push  northward  the  war  they  had 
inaugurated  at  Charleston.  Their  chieflain,  Jefferson  Davis, 
had  intimated  as  much,  long  previous ;  and  Leroy  Poj)e 
AValker,  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  War,  hearing  that  the 
attack  on  Sumter  had  commenced,  made  a  speech,  in  which 
he  had  said  that,  while  "  no  man  could  tell  where  the  war 
would  end,  he  would  prophesy  that  the  flag  which  now  flaunts 
the  breeze  here  (meaning  the  rebel  rag)  would  float  over  the 
dome  of  tJie  old  Capitol  at  Washington  before  the  first  of  May," 
and  '*  might  eventually  float  over  Faneuil  Hall  itself"  The 
South  already  had  pushed  20,000  men  into  Virginia;  and 
President  Lincoln  was,  therefore,  fully  justified  in  limiting  his 
early  military  operations  to  the  defense  of  AVashington. 

Virginia  was  carried  out  of  the  Union  about  this  time,  by 
fraud,  terrorism  and  violence,  just  as  in  the  case  of  her  seceded 
sisters ;  other  slave  States  followed. her  e.vample  ;  and  hence, 
on  the  27th  of  April,  the  blockade  of  rebel  ports  was  extended, 
by  proclamation,  to  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  On  the  3d 
of  May  more  troops  were  called  out,  and  recruits  ordered  to 
be  raised  for  the  regular  army  and  navy. 

It  would  be  idle  to  attempt  a  succinct  narration,  within  the 
limits  of  this  volume,  of  the  multitude  of  ordei*s,  proclama- 
tions, etc.,  which  followed  each  other  in  rapid  succession,  after 
tlie    commencement  of    hostilities.     We    must    confine    our 


78  THE    LIFE    OF    Ar.H\RA>f    LDfCOLuN 

record  to  a  synopsis,  if  we  would  keep  our  subject  of  biogra- 
phy in  view. 

The  new  Administration  early  devoted  itself  to  define  the 
position  taken  with  reference  to  foreign  powers,  jlr.  Adams, 
our  Minister  to  London,  received  instnictions  to  govern  liis 
course  which  were  at  once  prudent  and  manly.  It  was  the 
determination  of  the  British  Government,  before  the  arrival 
of  Minister  Adams,  to  act  in  concert  with  France  in  &  recog- 
nition of  the  slaveholding  rebels  as  a  belligerent  power. 
Against  this  project  Mr.  Adams  was  directed  to  make  a  decided 
protest.  June  loth,  the  British  and  French  Ministers  at 
Washington  requested  an  interview  with  Mr.  Seward,  in  order 
to  communicate  certain  instructions  they  had  received  from 
their  respective  Governments ;  but,  upon  learning  the  nature 
of  the  instructions  (which  probably  looked  to  a  consummation 
of  the  purpose  above  intimated)  the  Secretary  of  State  de- 
clined to  hear  the  instructions  read,  or  even  to  receive  oflQcial 
notice  of  them. 

This  was  the  Chief  Magistrate's  foreign  policy  from  the 
commencement  of  the  war — to  utterly,  decisively,  resolutely 
refuse  any  thing  like  an  intermeddling  in  our  domestic  trou- 
bles by  the  despots  of  Europe. 


CHAPTER    X. 

srBSEQczxT  EVENTS  or  1861. 

C0XGEES3  met  in  extra  session  on  the  4th  of  July,  1861, 
the  Republicans  having  control  of  both  Houses,  besides  being 
Burported  by  .some  Democratic  members  who  were  urgent  for 
the  rigid  prosecution  of  the  war  inaugurated  by  treason. 
Hon.  Galusha  A.  Grow,  a  strong  war  man,  was  chosen  speaker 
of  the  house.  On  the  5th  of  July,  President  Lincoln  com- 
municated to  Congress  his  first  annual  message. 

The  President,  in  this  communication,  explained  the  cir- 
cumstances which  had  preceded  the  bombardment  of  Fort 
Sumter  in  a  most  satisfactor}'  and  lucid  manner  ;  and  thus  sel 


HIS   CONCILIATORY    POLICY.  79 

*brtU  the  course  which  he  had  endeavored  tc  pursue  toward 
the  seceded  States,  until  their  open  act  of  bloodshed  had  com- 
pelled him  to  sterner  measures : 

"  The  policy  chosen  looked  to  the  cxlif.ustiou  of  all  })caccfa. 
measures  before  a  resort  to  any  stron<;er  ones.  It  sought  only 
to  hold  tiie  public  places  and  property  not  already  wrested  from 
the  Government,  and  to  collect  tJie  revenue,  relying  for  the  rest 
on  time,  discussion  and  the  ballot-box.  It  promised  a  continu- 
ance of  the  mails,  at  Government  expense,  to  the  very  people 
who  were  resisting  the  Government,  and  it  gave  repealed 
pledges  against  any  disturbances  to  any  of  the  people,  or  any 
of  their  rights,  of  all  that  which  a  President  might  constitution- 
ally and  justifiably  do  in  such  a  ctise  ;  every  thing  was  forborne, 
without  which  it  was  believed  possible  to  keep  the  Government 
on  foot." 

But  his  conciliatory  policy  had  been  in  vain.  The  madness 
and  treachery  of  the  insurrectionary  leaders  had  hurried  on 
their  wild  schemes  of  empire  until  the  monstrous  crime  of 
Sumter's  bombardment  had  set  at  naught  any  further  efforts 
for  peace  and  conciliation.      Said  Mr.  Lincoln : 

"  By  the  affair  at  Fort  Sumter,  with  its  surrounding  circum- 
stances, that  point  was  reached.  Tiicu  and  theri'by  the  assail- 
ants of  the  Government  began  the  conflict  of  arms,  without  a 
gun  in  sight  or  in  expectancy  to  return  their  fire,  save  only  the 
few  in  the  fort  sent  to  that  harbor  years  before,  for  their  own 
protection,  and  still  ready  to  give  that  protection  in  whatever 
was  lawful.  In  tb.is  act,  discarding  all  else,  thev  have  forced 
upon  the  country  the  distinct  issue,  immedUite  di«!¥)lHtion  or  blfxxl, 
and  this  issue  embraces  more  than  the  fate  of  these  Unitevl 
States.  It  presents  to  the  whole  family  of  man  the  question 
whether  a  constitutional  Republic  or  Democracy,  a  irovernment 
of  the  people,  by  the  same  people,  can  or  can  not  retain  its  ter- 
ritorial integrity  against  its  own  domestic  foes.  It  presents  the 
question  whether  discontented  individuals,  too  few  in  numbers 
to  control  the  Administration  according  to  the  organic  law  in' 
any  case,  can  always,  upon  the  pretenses  made  in  this  case,  or 
any  other  pretenses,  or  arbitrarily  without  any  pretenses,  break 
up  their  Government,'  and  thus  practically  ]>ut  an  end  to  free 
Government  upon  the  earth.  It  forces  us  to  &sk,  'is  there  in  all 
republics  this  inherent  and  fatal  weakness?'  Must  a  Govern- 
ment of  necessity  be  too  strong  for  the  liberties  of  its  own 
peojile,  or  too  weak  t">  maintain  its  own  existi  nee  ?  So  viewing 
the  issue,  no  choice  was  left  b\u  to  call  out  the  war-power  oi 
the  Government,  and  so  to  resist  the  force  empl«)yed  for  its  de- 
Btruction  by  force  for  its  preservation." 


80  THE    LIFE    OP   ABRAILVM    LINCOLN. 

• 

Passing  swiftly  and  tersely  over  the  secession  of  Virginia, 
and  the  circumstances  of  violence  and  deceit  by  -which  it  had 
been  effected,  and  exposing  the  nujnstness  and  hollowness  of 
Kentucky's  "  neutrality,"  the  President  gave  a  brief  sketch  of 
the  measures  decided  upon  as  necessary  for  the  immediate 
work  in  hand.  He  then  adverted  to  the  abstract  question  cf 
secession,  denying,  with  pungent  logic,  its  chief  claims. 

The  pervading  vein  of  this  message — and,  indeed,  of  every 
document  of  a  similar  cliaracter  which  he  issued — is  a  vindi- 
cation of  certain  sentiments  for  which  every  true,  thorough 
believ(ir  in  democracy  should  love  and  honor  ^im.  The  great 
heart  of  the  President  never  was  attuned  to  the  throbs  of  con- 
ventionality, nor  to  any  particular  sect  or  class;  it  ever  beat 
in  harmony  and  sj^mpathy  with  th3  claims  of  humanity  and 
enlightened  progress. 

This  message  concluded  with  the  following  memorable 
words : 

"  It  was  with  the  deepest  regret  that  the  Executive  found  the 
duty  of  employing  the  war-power,  in  defense  of  the  Govern- 
ment, forced  upon  him.  He  could  but  perform  this  duty,  or 
surrender  the  existence  of  the  Government.  No  compromise 
by  public  servants  could,  in  this  case,  be  a  cure ;  not  that  com- 
promises are  not  often  proper,  but  tliat  no  popular  Government 
can  long  survive  a  marked  precedent  that  those  who  carry  an 
election  can  only  save  the  Government  from  immediate  destruc- 
tion by  giving  up  the  main  point  upon  which  the  people  gave 
the  election.  The  people  themselves,  and  not  their  servants, 
can  safely  reverse  their  own  deliberate  decisions. 

"  As  a  private  citizen,  the  Executive  could  not  have  consented 
that  these  institutions  shall  perish ;  much  less  could  he,  in 
betrayal  of  so  vast  and  so  sacred  a  trust  as  these  free  people  had 
confided  to  him.  He  felt  tliat  he  had  i  o  moral  right  to  shrink, 
not  even  to  count  the  chances  of  his  own  life,  in  what  might 
follow.  In  full  view  of  his  great  responsibility,  he  has,  so  far, 
done  what  he  has  deemed  his  duty.  You  will  now,  according 
to  j^our  own  judgment,  perform  yours.  He  sincerely  hopes  tliat 
your  views  and  your  action  may  so  accord  with  his  as  to  assure 
all  faithful  citizans,  who  have  been  disturbed  in  their  rights,  of 
a  certain  and  sj.  eedy  restoration  to  them,  under  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws. 

"  And,  having  thus  chosen  our  course,  without  guile  and  with 
pure  purpose,  let  us  renew  our  trust  in  God,  and  go  forward 
without  fear  and  with  manly  hearts." 

The  action  of  the  extra  session,  throughout,  was  in  perfect 


\  TITE    DISASTER    AT    BULL   RUN.  81 

accorlancc  -with  the  patriotic  intentions  of  the  Executive;  a 
resolution,  otfcrcd  by  ?»lcClernand,  of  Illinois,  passing  the 
llouse  by  a  lar^^e  majority,  by  which  the  House  pledged  itself 
to  vote  any  amount  of  money  and  any  number  of  men  which 
might  be  requisite  to  suppress  the  rebellion.  Tlie  session 
closed  on  the  Cth  of  August,  after  having  Uikeu  the  most 
energetic  measures  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  yet  prudently 
avoided  any  action  which  would  tend  to  divide  or  enfeeble  the 
loyal  sentiment  of  the  nation.  The  people  responded  to  the 
action  of  Congress  with  enthusiasm  and  a  unanimity  truly 
remarkable. 

The  national  army  moved  from  the  Potomac,  under  the> 
command  of  General  :>reDowell,  on  the  IGth  of  July,  and  the 
battle  of  Bull  Hun  was  commenced  five  days  thereafter — 
resulting  in  the  complete  discomfiture  of  the  raw  Federal 
forces,  who  fell  back  to  Washington,  a  panic-stricken,  dis- 
organized mass,  or  in  flying  fragments,  after  sustaining  a  loss 
of  480  killed  and  1,000  wounded.  Had  the  Confederates  been 
cognizant  of  the  completeness  of  this  discomfiture,  the  capture 
of  Washington  must  have  followed  with  the  certainty  of 
destiny. 

But  the  hand  on  the  national  helm  was  that  of  a  man  who 
had  hewed  his  path  through  the  primeval  forests  of  the  great 
West,  and  breasted  the  current  of  the  Father  of  Waters  with  a 
flatboatman's  oar ;  and  he  did  not  quail  from  liis  responsil)le 
post  when  the  other  sailors  on  the  deck  were  blanched  with 
fear.  Ue  had  one  object — to  subdue  the  South  ;  and  tliis  was 
to  be  done  through  defeat  as  well  as  victory.  He  knew  that 
he  had  a  people  at  his  back  strong  to  second  him  in  every 
attempt  looking  to  this  final  result;  and  he  went  forward 
••  without  fear  and  with  a  manly  heart."  No  one  in  the  Nortli 
was  permanently  discouraged  by  the  disaster  at  Bull  Run. 
The  anny  was  reorganized,  increased  in  numbers  and  eftlciency, 
and  vigorous  measures  put  under  way  to  obtain  a  footing  ou 
the  coast,  as  well  as  in  the  heart,  of  the  rebel  States. 

On  the  28th  of  August,  Fort  llatteras  fell  into  the  possession 
of  our  fc^rces,  with  all  its  guns  and  garrison.  Port  Royal 
followed,  s'.irrcndering  October  31st,  thus  giving  to  the  Federal 
arms  a  foothold  in  South  Carolina.  Ship  Island,  lying  between 
Mobile  and  New  Orleans,  was  occupied  December  3d.     Tha 


82  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAH.Ul    LINCOLN. 

New  Orleans  expedition  was  then  set  on  foot.  The  rebels 
also  were  di'iven  out  of  Western  Virginia,  KQntucSiy  and 
Missouri. 

General  Scott  resigned  his  position  on  the  31st  of  October, 
and  Major-General  McClellan  was  called  to  the  command  of 
our  forces,  to  prepare  them  for  a  fresh  advance  upon  the  rebel 
<tapital. 

Thus  far  the  Government  had  avoided,  in  the  prosecution 
)f  the  war,  as  much  as  possible,  any  measures  in  regard  to 
slavery  which  would  serve  to  excite  the  prejudices  of  the 
Border  States — the  Confiscation  Act  affecting  only  those  slaves 
who  should  be  "required  or  permitted"  by  their  masters  to 
render  service  to  the  rebellion.  The  same  wise  theory  influ- 
enced the  Executive. 

On  the  27th  of  May  (1861),  General  Butler  originated  the 
term  of  contraband  for  slaves  coming  as  fugitives  to  his  camp. 
The  question,  "  What  shall  we  do  with  them  ?"  was  a  puzzler 
for  a  considerable  time ;  but  Butler  began  to  increase  his 
stock  of  cojitrabands  in  a  quiet  way ;  and,  not  only  that,  he 
set  them  to  work  for  the  Federal  Government.  The  policy  of 
the  War  Department  was  exceedingly  ambiguous  and  tender 
upon  this  subject  from  the  outset ;  but  it  never,  for  a  moment, 
di*eamed  of  a  rendition  of  slaves,  thus  coming  into  our  hands, 
to  their  rebel  masters ;  and,  before  the  close  of  August,  our 
policy  had  so  broadened  out  that  the  Secretary  of  War 
instructed  General  Butler  to  receive  all  fugitives  coming  into 
his  lines,  whether  of  loyal  or  disloyal  masters ;  it  being  pro- 
posed, at  the  same  time,  that  a  record  of  such  fugitives  should 
be  kept,  in  order  to  compensate  loyal  owners  at  the  close  of 
hostilities. 

General  Fremont  was  then  in  command  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Missouri ;  and  his  remarkable  order,  declaring 
"  the  property,  real  and  personal,  of  all  persons  in  the  State 
of  Missouri,  who  shall  take  up  arms-  against  the  United  States, 
or  who  shall  be  directly  proven  to  have  taken  an  active  part 
with  their  enemies  in  the  field,  is  declared  to  be  confiscated  to 
the  public  use,  and  their  slaves,  if  any  they  have,  are  hereby 
declared  free  wi6/i,"  was  issued  August  31st.  This  was,  of 
course,  transcending  the  authority  then  delegated  to  General 
Fremont,  or  proper  for  him  to  exercise.     Congress  alone  could 


Fremont's  famous  otider.  83 

order  such  a  decree.  President  Lincoln  regarded  it  in  this 
light.  Indeed,  ho  regarded  it  as  exceeding  the  authority 
vested  in  himself  by  Congress,  and  made  liasto  to  rectify  the 
s^^error,  which  was  "working  mischief  everywhere  tliroughout  the 
Border  States.  On  the  lltli  of  September,  he  accordingly 
wrote  to  General  Fremont,  ordering  a  modification  of  the 
objectionable  clause  so  as  to  make  it  confonn  with  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Confiscation  Act  of  August  Gtii,  18G1. 

Time  has  since  proven  the  wisdom  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  course 
upon  this  exceedingly  dillicult  and  tender  subject.  Elforts 
were  continually  made,  from  many  quarters,  to  induce  the 
President  to  depart  from  his  gradual  and  progressive  policy 
— progressive  as  the  war  seemed  to  demand  and  compel.  The 
great  majority  of  his  party  friends  desired  him  at  once  not 
only  to  proclaim  the  emancipation  of  slaves  of  rebels,  but  also 
to  put  arms  in  their  hands  and  employ  them  as  soldiers.  But 
the  cautious  Executive  was  not  to  be  shaken  from  the  policy 
which  his  vested  powers  and  the  then  existing  circumstances 
imposed  upon  him.  His  action  said  as  much  as  this :  "  Gen- 
tlemen, I  am  not  a  leader  of  the  people  in  these  great  ques- 
tions ;  I  am  but  an  instrument  in  their  hands.  If  thei/  require, 
for  instance,  an  emancipation  proclamation  from  me,  they 
need  only  speak  their  demands  through  the  action  of  Congress, 
and  they  will  find  in  me  an  instrument  to  execute  their 
desires.  I  would  not  shape  ])ublic  opinion,  but  will  be  obe- 
dient to  its  will  in  tliis  tremendous  crisis  of  the  republic. 
Thus,  by  not  transcending,  I  need  never  retract.  What  I  do 
is  indubitable — irrevocable."  ]\Iost  conclusively  was  the  Chief 
Magistrate's  course  sustained  by  the  great  majority  of  the 
people,  and  approved  by  time ;  and  the  prescience  which 
governed  his  action  seems  to  us  now  as  one  of  the  most 
nnnarkable  evidences  of  his  fitness  for  the  crisis. 

Was  the  rendition  of  Mason  and  SlidcU  inconsistent  with 
this  directing,  dependent  policy?  We  do  not  think  it  was. 
To  refuse  that  rendition  (a  refusal  which  such  men  as  the 
secessionist  leader,  Mr.  Vallandigham,  indignantly  and  piously 
advocated)  would  have  bnnight  upon  our  burdened  shoulders 
the  war-power  of  Great  Britain — probabl}'  that  of  France  also. 
The  candid,  second  sober  thought  of  the  people  saw  this,  and 
npproved  tlie  action  of  their  GoveAmcut — at  the  same  time 


84  THE    LIFE    OF   AERAHAif    LXNCOUSf.  ' 

hoarding  up  the  insult  of  Britain  in  their  heart  of  hearts — an  \ 
insult  to  be  one  day  wiped  away,  perhaps  in  blood. 

The  message  which  Mr,  Lincoln  transmitted  to  Congress  at  ■ 
its  regular  session,  in  December,  1861,  was  a  document  veuied  J 
bv  the  wise  conservatism  which  had  distingruislied  his  former  I 
papers.     In  alluding  to  the  policy  to  be  adopted  to  secure  the  ■ 
suppression  of  the  rebellion,  he  mentioned  that  he  had  been 
careful  that  the  inevitable  conflict  necessary  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  that  purpose  should  not  degenerate  into  a  remorse-  i 
less    revolutionary   contest.     In    every    document  which,   as  j 
Executive,  he  officially  promulgated,  as  well  as  in  his  language  I 
upon  the  leading  exciting  questions  of  the  day  or  hour,  his 
personal  opinions  were  not  left  a  subject  of  ambiguity.     And 
his  personal  views — as  expressed  alike  in  his  letter  to  Fremont,  ; 
modifying  the  emancipation  clause  of  that  General's  order,  and  | 
in  his  letter  to  Governor  Magoffin,  of  Kentucky,  refusing  to  i 
remove  the  Federal  troops  from  that  State,  and  rebuking  the 
unpatriotic  demands  of  that  official — in  every  thing  and  at  I 
every  time,  his  views  have  been  of  a  strong,  judicious,  exalted  ' 
nature,  and  they  never  failed  to  receive  the  respect  and  hearty  ■ 
support  of  his  fellow-countrymen.    A  few  weeks  at  most  served  i 
to  show  to  the  public  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  every  act  ' 
where  the  President  was  called  to  exercise  his  supreme  fmic-  ! 
tions  as  Commander-in-Chief  and  as  executor  of  the  laws.  i 


CHAPTER    XI. 

NEW   LAWS,   AND   THE   BATTLE   SUMMER   OF  1862. 

On  the  6th  of  March,  1862,  Congress  received  a  message 
from  the  President,  suggesting  the  adoption  of  measures  for 
the  gradual  emancipation  of  slaveiy.  He  proposed  the  adoption 
of  a  resolution  resembling  the  following : 

"■Eesolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  co-operate  with 
any  State  which  may  adopt  a  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery^ 
giving  to  such  State  pecuniary  aid  to  be  used  by  such  State  in 
its  discretion,  to  compensate  for  the  inconveniences,  public  and 
private,  produced  by  such  change  of  system." 


COMPENSATED    EMA  ?« CITATION. 


85 


"  Such  a  proposition,"  he  said,  "  on  the  part  of  the  Genera^ 
Government  sets  up  no  claim  of  a  right  by  Federal  authority 
to  Interfere  with  slavery  Avithin  State  limits,  referrini;  as  it 
does  the  absolute  control  of  the  subject  in  eaeh  case  to  the  Stale 
and  its  people  immediately  interested.  It  is  proposed  as  a 
matter  of  perfcctlj-  free  choice  with  them." 

This  important  war  measure  was  received  with  satisfaction 
in  almost  all  loyal  sections  of  the  countr}'.  A  note  of  outside 
approval  was  blown  to  us  from  England — the  liberal  press 
of  that  comitry  complimenting  the  recommendation  of  the 
President  as  a  fair  and  magnanimous  policy,  brightly  in  con- 
trast with  the  gloomy  action  of  the  rebel  authorities. 

Mr.  II.  Conkling,  of  New  York,  prompted  by  this  recom- 
mendation of  the  Executive,  introduced,  a  few  days  thereafter, 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  resolve  embodying  the 
emancipation  views  of  the  message.  It  was  vehemently 
opposed  by  the  rebel-S3Tnpathizing  members,  but,  when  puti 
upon  its  passage,  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  89  to  31 ;  subse- 
quently p;issing  tlie  Senate,  also,  by  32  to  10.  The  act,  as 
passed,  was  approved  by  the  President,  April  10th.  This 
resolve  was  generally  regarded  merely  as  an  experiment,  but 
its  passage  was  an  important  step  in  the  development  of  the 
antislavery  sentiment  fast  taking  hold  of  the  minds  of  aU 
loyalists. 

On  the  9th  of  3Iay,  General  Hunter,  commanding  the  mili- 
tary department  which  included  the  States  of  South  Carolina, 
Georgia  and  Florida,  issued  an  order  declaring  all  slaves 
within  his  department  to  be  thenceforth  "  forever  free,"  as  a 
purely  military  necessity ;  whereupon  the  President  issued  a 
proclamation  embodying  the  order  of  General  Hunter,  but 
rescinding  the  same,  preferring,  in  case  necessity  should 
require  it,  to  reserve  to  himself  the  promulgation  of  such 
ordei-s,  instead  of  leaving  the  question  to  the  decision  of  his 
military  subordinates.  lu  this  proclama' ion,  Mr.  Lincoln  then 
quoted  the  resolve  of  Congress,  already  referred  to,  and  appealed 
to  his  fellow-citizens  in  most  earnest  language,  for  a  calm  and 
enlarged  consideration  of  the  subject. 

When  the  first  steps  are  taken  toward  the  consuumiation 
of  some  grand,  humanitarian  principle,  others  quickly  follow  ; 
progress  proceeds  from  steps  to  strides.    Slavery  was  abolished 


°"  THE    LIFE    OP    ABKAILiM   LfNCOLN. 

^  the  District  of  Columbia  in  the  month  of  April,  1862.  In 
making  the  act  of  Congress  to  this  effect  a  law  of  the  land, 
]tfr.  Lincoln  transmitted  to  Congress  an  approving  message. 

During  May,  the  ports  of  Beaufort,  Port  Royal,  and  New 
Orleans  were  declared  open  to  the  commerce  of  the  world. 

The  President  sought,  and  obtained  on  the  12th  of  July,  a 
conference  with  the  members  of  Congress  from  the  Border 
States,  in  order  to  urge  upon  them,  if  possible,  some  action  of 
their  respective  States  in  the  direction  of  gradual  emancipa- 
tion— earnestly  feeling  that  such  action  could  not  fail  to 
strengthen  the  loyalty  of  their  several  States,  and  detach  them 
Btill  more  indubitably  from  the  cause  of  the  slaveholders'  Con- 
federacy. Mr.  Lincoln  addressed  these  Representatives  upon 
the  subject  in  his  usual  direct,  earnest  way. 

A  majority  of  the  members  thus  eloquently  and  earnestly 
appealed  to,  submitted  a  reply,  in  which  they  dissented  from 
the  President  in  his  view  that  the  adoption  of  emancipa- 
tion measures  would  be  beneficial  to  the  cause  of  the 
Union,  or  hasten  the  termination  of  the  war ;  but,  a  minority 
submitted  a  reply  of  their  own — in  which  was  expressed  a 
substantial  concmTence  in  the  wisdom  of  the  President's 
views. 

The  confiscation  bill  followed,  preceded  and  succeeded  by 
other  important  measures^  and  Congress  adjourned  on  the  17th 
of  July. 

On  the  6th  of  August  a  great  war-meeting  was  held  at 
Washington,  at  which  President  Lincoln  was  present,  and  de- 
livered a  characteristic  speech. 

The  great  ofiicial  act  of  the  year  and  of  the  century  fol- 
lowed, on  the  22d  of  September,  1862.  The  cause  of  Freedom 
had  proceeded  in  the  path  of  progress  from  steps  to  strides ; 
but,  here  the  Chief  Magistrate  made  a  forward  leap.  Upon 
that  day  he  issued  the  famous  proclamation,  whereby  all  per- 
sons held  as  slaves  in  the  rebellious  States  were  pronounced 
to  be,  on  and  after  the  approaching  Isew  Year's  day,  forever 
released  from  bondage. 

This  bold  step  soon  proved  its  force  against  the  traitors  by 
the  estimation  in  which  they  held  it — most  of  the  Southern 
iournals  denouncins:  it  as  an  incentive  to  the  slaves  to  rise  in 
insurrection.     A  resolution  was  offered  in  the  rebel  Congress 


SUSTENSION    OF    THE    WlUT    OF    HABEAS    COUPUS.  87 

offt'iing  a  reward  to  every  negro  who  shoukl,  after  the  1st  of 
January,  18G3,  succeed  in  killing  a  Unionist.  In  fact,  tlio 
whole  rebel  populace,  as  well  as  their  symjiathizers  in  Iho 
North  and  in  Europe,  were  terribly  exercised  and  outraged. 
T^cre  was  method  in  their  madness.  Their  denunciation  of 
the  "cruelty"  and  "inhumanity"  of  the  measare,  was  in  tho 
same  spirit  in  which  General  Beauregard,  at  a  later  day,  tlirew 
up  his  hands  and  piously  whined  at  the  Greek-fire  whicli  the 
long-range  guns  of  the  Yankee  commander  scattered  through 
I  lie  streets  of  Charleston. 

Two  days  liad  only  elapsed  since  the  promulgation  of  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  when  another  mandate  of  almost 
iHpial  importance,  dropjied  like  a  bomb-shell  amid  the  ranks 
of  the  rebel  sympatliizers.  This  was  the  suspension  of  the 
writ  of  hnbeoft  corpus.     Herein  it  was  ordered  : 

''First.  That  during  the  existing  insurrection,  and  as  a  neces- 
sary measure  lor  suj^j)ressing  the  stimo,  all  rebels  and  insurgents, 
their  aiders  and  abettors,  within  the  United  States,  and  all  jier- 
Bons  discouraging  volunteer  enlistments,  resisting  militia  drafts, 
or  guilty  of  any  disloyal  practice  affording  aid  and  Cf)mibrt  to 
the  rebels  against  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  ])e 
subject  to  martial  law,  and  liable  to  trial  and  punishment  by 
courts-martial  or  military  commissicms. 

"  T/iird.  That  the  writ  oUuibcd^  corpus  is  suspended  in  respect 
to  all  persons  arrested,  or  who  are  now,  or  hereafter  during  the 
rebellion  shall  be  inriirisoned  in  any  fort,  camp,  arsenal,  military 
prison,  or  other  place  of  confinement,  hy  any  military  authority, 
or  by  the  sentence  of  any  court-martial  or  military  commis- 
sion." 

This  act — unquestionably  called  for  bv  the  growing  danger 
of  the  spirit  of  treason  being  excited  by  the  friends  of  slavery 
in  the  North — strengthened  the  President's  hands  to  a  degree 
exceedingly  distasteful  to  those  who  were  not  ashamed  to  aid 
and  abet  the  enemies  of  their  country  by  voice  and  pen.  Such 
dangerous  characters  were,  at  any  moment,  liable  to  be  grasped 
by  the  strong  hand  of  military  law.  They  accordingly  set  up 
a  general  and  doleful  howl  through  the  newspapers  and 
speeches,  proving,  not  only  their  disloyalty  beyond  a  question, 
but  demonstrating  the  wisdom  of  the  ofTensive  act.  The  ben- 
eficial etfects  of  this  order  were  not  long  in  manifesting  them- 
Be.ves,  as  all  interference  with  enlistments  ceased  from  that 
date. 

Thi^  was,  also,  the  famous  period  which  has  since  been 


88  THE   LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LDsCOLN. 

termed  the  battle  season  of  1862.  The  summer  had  witnessed 
the  discomfiture  of  the  great  army  of  General  McClelkn,  -which 
had  proceeded  to  the  capture  of  Richmond  so  confidently  and 
slowly.  It  was  driven  before  the  rebel  bayonets  down  the 
Peninsula,  and  consequent  gloom  pervaded  the  North.  Small 
space  is  here  accorded  to  treat  of  the  controversy  which  arose, 
after  this  disaster,  as  to  who  was  directly  responsible  for  it : 
the  fiiends  of  General  McClellan  defending  their  hero  zealously, 
and  heaping  all  the  blame  upon  the  President  and  his  Secre- 
tary of  "War,  and  the  lovers  of  the  Government  defending  it 
against  these  assaults  with  equal  energy,  attributing  the  defeat 
solely  to  the  incapacity  and  timidity  of  McClellan.  It  is  difii- 
cult  to  foresee  the  verdict  of  the  future  and  dispassionate  his- 
torian. But,  by  few  candid  reviewers,  at  the  present  time, 
can  blame  be  attached  to  the  Executive.  Certainly,  in  per- 
mitting himself  to  be  defeated  by  an  inferior  force  of  the  enemy. 
General  McClellan  displayed  at  least  one  proof  of  his  incapa- 
city as  a  militaiy  chief;  and  his  whole  correspondence  with 
the  President  and  Secretary  of  "VVar^  after  going  up  the  Penin- 
sula, was  of  a  tone  entirely  inconsistent  with  the  relations 
which  should  exist  between  an  inferior  and  a  superior  in  com- 
mand. Take  for  example  the  following  extract  from  a  dis- 
patch to  the  Secretary  of  "War,  demanding  instant  and,  per- 
haps, impossible  reinforcements : 

^^  If  I  save  tlds  army  nmc^  I  tell  you  plainly  that  Imce  no  thanks 
to  you  or  to  any  2yersons  in  Washington  ;  you  hate  done  your  best 
to  sacrifice  this  armyy 

From  the  tone  of  this  missive,  one  would  imagine  that  the 
person  addressed  was  some  recusant  employee  of  the  writer. 
Among  the  candid  and  loyal  of  all  classes,  McClellan  gained 
few  friends  by  his  frequent  and  petulant  efibrts  to  shift  the 
burden  of  defeat  from  his  own  shoulders  to  those  of  higher 
rank  and  greater  dignity.  In  truth — ^was  there  ever  a  whipped 
soldier  who  did  not  find  a.  thousand  other  reasons  for  defeat 
than  his  own  incapacily  ?  It  is  an  easy  refuge,  and  discom- 
fited men  fly  to  it  with  ready  haste.  McClellan's  whole  course, 
whenever  he  wrote  any  thing,  appeared  to  bear  the  impress, 
on  its  very  face,  of  a  desire  to  manufacture  political  capital 
9,mong  the  disaffected  of  Hie  North.  The  least  likelihood  of  a 
negro  gaining  tlfe  boon  of  freedom  excited  his  holy  indigna- 
tion.    The  tuneful  Hutchinson  family  were  unceremoniously 


\ 

HIB    11ELATI0N9   WITU    MC  CLELLAN.      .  89 

kicked  ont  of  his  array  the  momont  it  became  known  tliat  a 
vein  of  anti'ilnrery  sentiment  pervackxl  their  son^,  allhou^rii 
tlic  p:irticul:ir  piece,  wliich  excited  this  virtuous  iudiij^nation, 
^  was  II  musterpioce  of  one  <^f  our  nobl'St  native  bards!  Tlio 
batteries  of  strictures  wliich  -were  turned  upon  him  may  havo 
been  partially  unjust,  but  he  does  not  seem  to  liave  refuted 
lliiui  by  sul)sequent  development  nor  by  Ids  own  eourse. 

General  Pope  was  appointed  to  succeed  ]\IcClellan  in  the 
immediate  command  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  and,  on  the 
27th  of  August,  General  Ilalleck,  who  had  been  called  to 
AVashinc:ton,  ordered  General  ]\IcClellan  to  "  take  the  entire 
direction  of  the  sending  out  of  the  troops  from  Alexandria"  to 
reenfi)rce  General  Pope,  who  was  being  hard  pressed  by  the 
powerful  rebel  army,  near  AN^arrcnton  Junction. 

"  By  this  time,  however,"  (observes  ^Ir.  Raymond,  toward 
the  close  of  an  able  review  of  the  campaign,)  "  General  I^Ic- 
Clellan  had  become  the  recognized  head  of  a  political  party  in 
the  country  and  a  military  cli(iue  ini  the  army ;  and  it  suited 
the  purpose  of  both  to  represent  the  defeat  of  the  army  of  the 
Potomac  "  (under  Pope)  "  was  due  to  the  fact  that  General 
;McClellan  was  no  longer  at  its  head  ;  *  *  *  and,  upon 
the  urgent  but  unjust  representations  of  some  of  his  otTicers, 
that  the  army  tcould  not  serve  under  any  other  commander. 
General  Pope  was  relieved  and  General  McClellan  again 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac ;  and,  on  the  l-lth 
of  September,  he  commenced  the  movement  into  ]\Iar}'land, 
to  repel  the  invading  rebel  forces." 

President  Lincoln,  in  all  his  correspondence  with  General 
l^IcClellan,  was  patient  and  gentle  to  the  last  degree.  He 
ever  reproved  with  kindness,  and,  though  he  may  liave  occa- 
sionally been  a  little  sarcastic  in  his  replies  to  the  command- 
er's petulant  complaints,  those  replies  always  were  in  a  famil- 
iar, suggestive  vein,  and  usually- in  the  form  of  private  letters. 

The  country  was  filled  with  sorrow  by  this  disastrous  sum- 
mer, but  drooping  spirits  were  revived  by  the  glorious  struggle 
of  Hooker  and  Burnside,  at  Antietam  and  Perryville,  which, 
it  not  actual  victories,  at  any  rate,  relieved  our  soil  of  the  in- 
vaders, east  and  west.  Thus  closed  the  eventful  j'car  of  18G2, 
BO  full  of  events  calculated  to  aflcct  the  destiny  of  the  coimtry 
in  a  momentous  degree. 


90  THE    LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  ] 

To  the  Congress  wliicli  convened  in  the  ensuing  jL)ecembcr,  i 
Mr.  Lincoln  transmitted  a  message  of  characteristic  terseness  | 
and  power,  chiefly  devoted  to  the  subject  in  hand — the  war;  ' 
hut  we  have  no  room  for  extracts.  It  commanded  unusual  ^ 
attention,  both  in  the  Old  and  the  New  World,  and  was  gen-  - 
erally  regarded  as  the  exposition  of  a  just  man  and  a  wise 
ruler.  J 


CHAPTER    XII.  i 

1 

EVENTS   OP   1863.  ' 

I 

BuRNSiDE's  defeat  at  Fredericksburg,  at  the  close  of  1862,  i 
again  disheartened  the  loyal  North  ;  but  brighter  days  were  near  i 
their  dawn,  although  the  defeat  of  Hooker  at  Chancellorsville, 
in  the  ensuing  April,  seemed  an  unpropitious  opening  of  the  i 
new  year.  The  rebels  next  invaded  Maryland  and  Pennsyl-  \ 
vania,  and  met  with  the  overpowering  repulse  of  Gettysburg,  j 
leaving  nearly  14,000  prisoners  and  25,000  small-arms  col-  i 
lected-on  the  battle-field. 

A  piece  of  ground  was  afterward  marked  off,  near  Gettys-  i 
burg,  for  a  national  cemetery  for  depositing  the  remains  of  j 
the  loyal  thousands  who  fell  in  this  great  battle.  To  the 
impressive  dedication  of  this  vast  grave-yard  came  the  Presi-  i 
dent  and  his  Cabinet,  attended  by  an  imposing  military  demon- '' 
stration,  and  a  vast  concourse  of  visitors.  Hon.  Edward' 
Everett  delivered  the  formal  speech,  and  President  Lincoln  | 
delivered  the  following  beautiful  address :  ^ 

"Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth  j 
upon  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  Liberty,  and: 
.dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal.; 
Now  w^e  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  tlratj 
nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long  I 
endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battle-field  of  that  war.  We ! 
are  met  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  it  as  the  final  resting-place  of 
those  who  here  gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  | 
is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this.  '< 

"  But  in  a  larger  sense  we  can  not  dedicate,  we  can  not  con- j 
secrate,  we  can  not  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living  i 
and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far  above  our  \ 


TIIK    TIIANKSGIVINO    PROCLAMATION.  91 

power  to  ftdil  or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note,  nor  long 
renieniber  wluU  we  say  iiere,  but  it  can  never  Ibri^et  wliat  they 
did  here.  It  is  for  ua,  the  livinir,  rather  to  be  dedicated  here  to 
the  unfinished  work  tliat  they  have  thus  far  so  nobly  carried  on. 
ll  is  rather  for  us  to  be  Iicre  dedicateil  to  the  threat  task  remain- 
ing bc'tbre  us — that  from  these  honored  dead  we  take  increased 
devotion  to  the  cause  for  which  they  here  piwc  the  last  full  meas- 
ure of  devotion — that  we  here  hiirhly  resolve  that  the  dead  shall 
not  have  died  in  vain  ;  that  the  nation  shall,  under  God,  have  a 
new  birth  of  freedom  ;  and  that  the  Government  of  the  people,  by 
the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earlh.^' 

The  tremendous  snccesses  of  Vicksburg  and  Port  Iludson 
followed  quickly  upon  Gettysburg — that  of  Vicksburg  taking 
place  on  the  4th  of  July,  thus  i)robably  constituting  the  most 
glorious  and  substantial  celebration  ever  before  accorded  to  our 
national  holiday. 

The  fruits  of  this  year  were  deemed  ample  reason  for  the 
appointment  of  a  day  which  should  be  devoted  to  thanks- 
giving ;  accordingly^  President  Lincoln  issued  a  proclamation 
which,  for  its  humility  of  spirit,  beauty  of  expression  and 
nobility  of  sentiment,  must  remain  marked  even  among  the 
remarkable  papers  which  have  issued  from  the  President's 
hands.     AVe  quote  it : 

"  The  year  that  is  drawing  toward  Its  close  has  been  filled  with 
the  blessings  of  fruitful  lields  and  healthful  skies.  To  these 
bounties,  which  are  so  constantly  enjoyed  that  we  are  i)rone  to 
forget  the  source  from  which  they  come,  others  have  been  added, 
which  are  of  so  extraordinary  a  nature,  that  they  can  not  fail  to 
penetrate  and  soften  even  the'heart  which  is  hal)itually  insensible 
lo  the  ever-watchful  providence  of  Almighty  God. 

"  In  the  midst  of  a  civil  war  of  unequaled  magnitude  and 
severity,  which  has  sometimes  seemed  to  invite  and  provoke  the 
agirression  of  foreign  States,  peace  has  been  preserved  with  all 
naUons,  order  has  been  maintained,  the  laws  have  been  respected 
and  obeved,  and  harmony  has  prevailed  everywhere,  except  in 
tlie  theater  of  military  conllict;  while  that  theater  has  been 
trfeatly  contracted  by  "the  advancing  armies  and  navies  of  the 
Union. 

"  The  needful  diversions  of  wealth  and  strength  from  the  fields 
of  peaceful  industry  to  the  national  defense  have  not  arrested 
the  plow,  the  shuttle  or  the  ship.  The  ax  has  enlarged  the 
borders  of  our  settlements,  and  the  mines,  as  well  of  iron  and 
coal  as  of  the  precious  metals  have  yieliletl  even  more  abun- 
dantly than  heretofore.  Population  has  .steadily  increased,  not- 
wilhbtiiudiug  the  waste  that  has  been  made  in  the  camp,  tho 


92  TH3    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

eiege  and  the  battle-field ;  and  the  conntiy,  rejoicing  in  the  con* 
gequences  of  augmented  strength  and  vigor,  is  pemiitted  to  ex- 
pect continuance  of  years  with  large  increase  of  freedom. 

*'  No  hiiman  counsel  hath  devised,  nor  hath  any  mortal  hand 
"  "woiked  out  these  great  things.     They  are  the  gracious  gifts  of  ♦ 
the  Most  High  God,  who,  while  dealing  with  us  in  anger  for  our 
sins,  hath  nevertheless  remembered  mercy. 

*'  It  has  seemed  to  me  lit  and  proper  that  they  should  be 
solemnly,  reverentlv  and  gratefully  acknowledged  as  with  one 
heart  and  voice  by  the  whole  American  j)eople;  I  do,  therefore, 
invite  my  fellow-citizens  in  every  part  of  the  United  States,  and 
also  those  who  are  at  sea  and  those  who  are  sojourning  in  foreign 
lands,  to  set  apart  and  observe  the  last  Thursday  of  November 
next  as  a  Day  of  Thanksgivmg  and  Prayer  to  our  beneficent 
Father,  who  dwelleth  in  the  heavens.    And  I  recommend  to 
them  that,  while  offering  up  the  ascriptions  justly  due  to  Him  for  ' 
such  singular  deliverances  and  blessmgs,  they  do  also,  with  ' 
humble  penitence  for  our  national  perverseness  and  disobedience, 
commend  to  His  tender  care  all  those'who  have  become  widows,  ' 
orphans,  mourners  or  sufferers  in  the  lamentable  civil  strife  in  ■ 
which  we  are  unavoidably  engaged,  and  fervently  implore  the  ' 
interposition  of  the  Almighty  hand,  to  heal  the  wounds  of  the  i 
nation  and  to  restore  it,  as  soon  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  j 
Divine  purposes,  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  peace,  harmony,  tran-  ; 
Ciuillity  and  union,"  ' 

We  must  here  be  permitted  to  quote  the  President's  ac-  ' 
knowledgment  to  General  Grant  of  the  capture  of  Yicksburg ;  | 
for,  in  this  communication  3Ir.  Lincoln's  character  for  honesty  ■ 
and  candor  is  agreeably  displayed  in  the  modest  and  imcon- ' 
scious  garb  of  his  own  language.     It  is  as  follows  : 

"  Executive  MA:srsiox,  WashdsGton,  ) 

"July  13th,  1863.  j"      ; 

^'^  Mo  jar- General  Grant:  \ 

"  My  De-UR,  Ge^'eral  :  I  do  not  remember  that  you  and  I  ever  | 
met  personally.  I  write  this  now  as  a  grateful  acknowledgment  ; 
for  the  almost  inestimable  service  jom  have  done  the  country,  i 
I  write  to  say  a  w  )rd  further.  When  you  reached  the  vicinity  i 
of  Yicksburg,  I  tl  ought  you  should  do  what  you  finally  did —  | 
march  the  troops  across  the  neck,  run  the  batteries  with  the  j 
transports,  and  thus  go  below ;  and  I  never  had  any  faith  ex-  ! 
cept  a  general  hope  that  you  knew  better-than  I  that  the  Yazoo 
Pass  expedition,  and  the  like,  could  succeed.  When  you  got  ' 
below  and  took  Port  Gibson,  Grand  Gulf  and  vicmity,  I  thought  | 
you  should  go  down  the  river  and  join  General  Banks,  and  ! 
when  you  turned  northward,  east  of  the  Big  Black,  I  feared  it  : 
was  a  mistake.  /  now  wish  to  malx  the  'personal  acknawledgnieni  \ 
^lat  you  were  riglit  and  I  was  wrorcg.  Yours,  truly,  i 

"  A.  LlN-COLN."       \ 

\ 


THE    AMh-ESTY    PROCLAMATION.  93 

Other  victories  of  great  importance  distinguinhed  the  close 
of  tills  eventful  year. 

In  his  Annual  Messaa:c  of  18G3,  the  President  ofTercd  the 
rebels  a  fair  and  practicable  mode  of  returning  once  more  to 
their  allegiance.     The  following  exceptions  only  were  made : 

"  The  persons  excepted  from  the  benefits  of  the  foregoing 
provisions  arc  all  who  are  or  shall  have  been  civil  or  diplomatic 
officers  or  agents  of  the  so-called  Confederate  Government;  all 
who  have  left  judicial  stations  under  the  United  States  to  aid 
the  rebellion  ;  all  who  are  or  shall  have  been  militarv'  or  naval 
oflicers  of  said  Confederate  Government  above  the  rank  cf  colo- 
nel in  the  army  or  lieutenant  in  the  navy;  all  wlio  left  seats  in 
the  United  States  Congress  to  aid  the  rebellion  ;  all  whc  resigned 
their  commij^sions  in  the  army  or  navy  of  the  United  States,  and 
arterward  aiited  the  rebellion,  and  all  who  have  engaged  in  any 
■way  in  treating  colored  persons  or  white  persons  in  charge  of 
such,  otherwise  than  lawfullv.  as  prisoners  of  war,  and  wliich 
persons  may  be  found  in  the  XTnited  States  service,  as  soldiers, 
seamen,  or  in  any  other  capacity." 

As  a  friend  of  the  menses  of  his  fellow-beings — as  a  true 
Democratic  lover  of  his  kind — he  will  certainly  be  secure  of 
fame;  for  this  beautiful  trait  of  his  character  lives  through 
every  document  which  he  has  penned,  and  breathes  through 
his  every  speech.  Last  ^March,  upon  the  occasion  of  his  being 
waited  upon  by  a  committee  of  the  "SVorkingmen's  Democratic 
Association  of  New  York,  with  the  information  that  he  had 
been  elected  a  member  of  that  organization,  !Mr.  Lincoln  made 
a  reply  from  which  we  must  be  excused  from  making  some 
extracts : 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  Com:mittee  : — The  honorary  member- 
ship in  your  Association  so  generously  tendered  is  gratefully  ac- 
cepted. You  comprehend,  as  your  address  shows,  that  the  ex- 
isting rebellion  means  more  and  tends  to  more  than  the  perpet- 
uation of  African  slavery — that  it  is,  in  fact,  a  war  upon  the 
rights  of  all  working  people.  Partly  to  show  that  the  view  has 
not  escaped  my  ulteniion,  and  partly  that  I  can  not  bettor  ex- 
press mvseir,  I  read  a  passage  from  (he  messijge  to  Congress  in 
December,  ISCl : 

"'It  continues  to  develop  that  the  insurrection  is  largely,  if 
not  exclus-ively,  a  war  upon  the  first  principle  of  popular  Gov- 
ernment— the  rights  of  the  people.  Conclusive  evidence  of  this 
is  found  in  the  most  grave  and  maturely-considered  public  docu- 
ments, as  well  as  in  the  general  tone  of  the  ir -  nts.     In  those 

documents  we  find  the  abridgment  of  the  e\  ,  liLrht  of  suf- 
frage, and  the  denial  to  the  people  of  all  right  to  i>ariicipate  in 


§4  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    I-LNCOLN,  '' 

the  selection  of  public  officers,  except  the  Legislative  body,  i 
boldly  advocated  with  labored  arguments,  to  prove  that  large  | 
control  of  the  people  in  government  is  the  source  of  all  politi-  ' 
cal  evil.  Monarchy  is  sometimes  hinted  at  as  a  possible  refuge  \ 
from  the  power  of  the  people.  In  my  present  position,  I  could  , 
scarcely  be  justified  were  I  to  omit  raising  my  voice  against  tliia 
approach  of  returning  despotism. 

" '  It  is  not  needed  or  fitting  here  that  a  general  argument  ' 
should  be  made  in  favor  of  popular  institutions ;  but  there  is  : 
one  point,  with  its  connections,  not  so  hackneyed  as  most  others,  j 
to  which  I  ask  a  brief  attention.  It  is  the  effort  to  place  capiial  \ 
on  an  equal  footing  with,  if  not  abo've,  labor,  in  the  stinicture  of  I 
the  Government.  It  is  assumed  that  labor  is  available  only  in  1 
connection  with  capital ;  that  nobody  labors  unless  somebody  | 
else  owning  capital  somehow,  by  use  of  it,  induces  him  to  ! 
labor.  ' 

"  '  This  assumed,  it  is  next  considered  whether  it  is  best  that  I 
capital  shall  liire  laborers,  and  thus  induce  them  to  work  by  . 
their  own  consent,  or  buy  them,  and  drive  them  to  it  without 
their  consent.  Having  proceeded  so  far,  it  is  naturally  concluded  1 
that  all  laborers  are  either  hired  laborers  or  what  we  call  slaves.  | 
And,  further,  it  is  assumed  that  whoever  is  once  a  hired  laborer  i 
is  fixed  in  that  condition  for  life.  jS'ow  there  is  no  such  relation  i 
between  capital  and  labor  as  assumed,  nor  is  there  any  such 
thing  as  a  free  man  being  fixed  for  life  in  the  condition  of  a  ; 
hired  laborer.  Both  of  these  assumptions  are  false,  and  aU  in-  ; 
ferences  from  them  are  groundless.'  " 

He  concluded  as  follows  : 

"  No  men  living  are  more  worthy  to  be  trusted  than  those 
who  toil  up  from  poverty — none  less  inclined  to  take  or  touch 
aught    which    they    have    not    honestly    earned.      Let    them 
beware  of  surrendering  a  political  power  which  they  already 
possess  and  w^hich,  if  surrendered,  will  be  surely  used  to  close   , 
the  door  of  advancement  against  such  as  they,  and  to  fix  new  * 
disabilities  and  burdens -upon  them  till  all  of  liberty  shall  be    ; 
lost.  I 

"  None  are  so  deeply  interested  to  resist  the  present  rebellion  : 
as  the  working  people.  Let  them  beware  of  prejudices  working  i 
disunion  and  hostility  among  themselves.  The  most  notable  i 
feature  of  a  disturbance  in  your  city  last  summer  was  the  hang-  : 
ing  of  some  working  people  by  other  working  people.  It  ; 
should  never  be  so.  The  strongest  bond  of  human  sympathy, 
outside  of  the  family  relation,  should  be  one  uniting  all  working  J 
people,  of  all  nations,  tongues  and  kindreds.  Nor  should  this  \ 
lead  to  a  war  upon  property  or  the  owners  of  property.  Prop-  i 
erty  is  the  jfruit  of  labor;  property  is  desirable — is  a  positive  ! 
good  in  the  world.  That  some  should  be  rich,  shows  that  \ 
others  may  become  rich,  and  hence  is  just  encouragement  to    ' 


THE    BTATUE   OF   LINCOLN.  95 

tnduslry  nnd  enterprise.  Let  not  him  who  is  lionselcss  pull  down 
the  house  of  another,  but  kt  liini  labor  cliiii^ciitly  and  build  ono 
for  himself;  thus,  by  examjjle,  assuring  that  his  own  shall  bo 
safe  from  violence  when  built." 

We  have  now  followed  the  train  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  life 
from  tJie  log-cabin  in  Kentucky,  wherein  he  was  born,  to  the 
White  House  at  Washington,  and  have  sketched  the  leading 
events  of  his  executive  career,  down  to  the  close  of  the  year 
180;J.  Whether  or  not  our  illustrious  subject  shall  achieve 
greater  honors  is  for  the  future  to  reveal ;  but  nothing  which 
he  may  accomplish — and  God  grant  him  a  long  life  in  which 
to  work  good  to  his  fellows — will  prevent  the  verdict,  for 
what  he  has  done,  that  is  accorded  to  the  truly  great.  Partisan 
feeling,  and  personal  malice  of  enemies  may  expend  itself  in 
vain  upon  such  a  character ;  it  is  too  pure,  too  strong  in  its 
simplicity,  too  benevolent,  too  self-poised,  to  be  more  than 
temi)orarily  disturbed  by  the  tongue  of  detraction,  and  poster- 
ity will  not  fail  to  regard  him  as  one  of  those  rare  souls 
which,  like  Cincinnatus,  are  discovered  in  obscurity  for  great 
and  Divine  purposes.  May  the  United  States  of  America 
live  to  see  the  day  when  the  names  of  Washington  and  Lin- 
coln shall  be  twin  stars  in  the  constellation  of  our  country's 
glory ! 

We  close  our  notice  with  the  following  poem,  written  by 
one  (^f  our  favorite  poets  : 

THE  STATUE  OF  LIXCOLK 

"Tbere  U  ■  nlch*  In  the  Teiuple  of  Fame,  k  niche  near  to  WAsniNOToy,  whicn  thonld  b«  occn- 
pl«d  by  the  »Utiie  of  hWii  who  thall  »i»ve  hU  rouiitry.  Mr.  Lincol.n  hHH  a  mighty  J*«tinv.  It  ia 
be  Kiiu  Ut  \m  but  •  i*rc«lJeut  of  the  peuple  of  the  United  SUte*,  and  there  will  hU  atntiie  be." 

John  J.  CKiTTKaoaii. 

Well  hapt  thou  paid— .John  Crittenden  1 
Albeit  the  j)roi)het'i»  loftier  keu 
IJe  »l\\\  denied  to  thee — 
"  If  Abrahnni  Lincoln  dare  to  ptand, 
1'he  IVojiie'^  Chiel— and  k>:ive  Ihii*  land- 
When*  Washinjrton  towers,  calmly  yruud. 
There  will  his  statue  bo  I" 

I  bail  tliy  wordp,  O  Crittenden  I 
And  if  thy  faillj  <;oe<j  with  Iheni,  then 

That  faith  iroes  far  with  nie: 
But  while  THY  Lincoln's  niche  awaits 
Tile  quarryint^s  of  our  "  liorder  Slates," 
Mv  Lincoln  jjuards  tlie  Union's  urates. 

And  there  his  niche  shall  be  I 

Beneath  that  niche— .John  Crittenden  I 
His  name  was  graven  by  History's  pen, 
When  Froeduui's  sunlit  sea. 


96  THE    LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    I-INCOLN. 

Upswelling  from  Potomac's  wave. 
Bore  back  the  slave-mart  and  the  slave : 
And  there — where  life  to  souls  he  gave — 
There  shall  his  statue  bo! 

And  far  away,  O  Crittenden  I 
Where  dark  Liberia's  citizen 

Thanks  God  that  he  is  free  ; 
And  wliere  the  Haytieu  smites  his  foes 
With  doctrines  sharper  tlian  Monroe's, 
There  Lincoln's  name  the  patriot  know(»— 

There  will  his  statue  be  I 

In  vain,  in  vain,  John  Crittenden  ! 
Thy  Border  States  and  Border  Men 

Like  Canute,  mock  the  sea  : 
Above  their  whips  and  chains  it  rolls, 
In  billowy  tides  of  loyal  souls — 
And  where,  at  Fkeedom's  feet,  it  shoals, 

God  tyrant  that  Lincoln  be  I 

O  silver-tongued  John  Crittenden  ! 
Sweet  are  thy  words  to  thoughtful  men, 

Though  hollow  soiinds  from  thee : 
Where  loyal  arjn  and  loyal  prayer 
The  standard  of  this  land  would  bear. 
Let  Ajbraham  Lincoln  mount— and  there. 

There  will  his  statue  be  1 

When  Lincoln's  hand,  O  Crittenden  1 
Shall  dip  within  his  heart  the  pen 

That  writes  this  Nation  free — 
Then,  towering  where  the  angels  climb, 
His  starry  soul  shall  stand,  snhlime. 
And,  throBked  upou  all  Future  Time, 

There  shall  his  statue  be ! 

Nwf  York,  Aug.  6, 1863.  A.  J.  H.  Duoaotct. 


I 


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